Abstract
Research interest in robotic wheelchairs is driven in part by their potential for improving the independence and quality-of-life of persons with disabilities and the elderly. Moreover, smart wheelchair systems aim to reduce the workload of the caregiver. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for 3D sensing of the terrain using a conventional Laser Range Finder (LRF). We mounted this sensing system onto our new six-wheeled robotic step-climbing wheelchair and propose a new step measurement technique using the histogram distribution of the laser data. We successfully measure the height of stair steps in a railway station. Our step measurement technique for the wheelchair also enables the wheelchair to autonomously board a bus. Our experiments show the effectiveness and its applicability to real world robotic wheelchair navigation.
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Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Saitama Prefecture Leading-edge Industry Design Project and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 26240038 and in collaboration with Dr. Tomoyuki Takahata and Professor Iaso Shimoyama, at The University of Tokyo and Toyota Motor Corporation.
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Mamun, S.A., Lam, A., Kobayashi, Y., Kuno, Y. (2017). Single Laser Bidirectional Sensing for Robotic Wheelchair Step Detection and Measurement. In: Huang, DS., Hussain, A., Han, K., Gromiha, M. (eds) Intelligent Computing Methodologies. ICIC 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10363. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63315-2_4
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