Welcome to the BLOG about a low cost smart wheelchair.
The aim is to realize a robotic wheelchair that will
allow disabled people to gain mobility and
independency. The motivation of this project is that
existing smart wheelchairs are very expensive and they
are not so smart.
The
idea is to realize such a vehicle using low cost
hardware such as LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, a netbook, other
off-the-shelf technology,
and custom sensors.
I am starting to
invest money in this project.
Feel free to
contribute with the sum you prefer.
If you pay using a
credit/debit card, part of the offer will be lost in fees for
Paypal!
To let the whole offer go
to the project, transfer the sum by logging into your Paypal
account (transfer between accounts has no fees).
Current target: NEATO XV-11 robot with laser scanner (400 $)
20 December 2010. The company
NEATO Robotics has released for
the US market a vacuum cleaner robot that features a very
cheap laser scanner, that is ideal for the target price of the
wheelchair prototype. Even more interesting, this laser scanner
has been already
hacked, and can be used
independently from the vacuum cleaner robot.
15 April 2010. Here is the presentation of the project at Campus
Party Europe (Madrid). The project received an honor
mention award, but as you know, honor mentions do not pay the
research!
11 April 2010.
Here's the video of
the first localization and navigation experiments of the first
prototype of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Laser guided vehicle.
22 March 2010.
Gina posted this entry in
Mac's
BLOG about the project.
14 March 2010.
I received an
invitation to
Campus Party Europe, a big event
held in Madrid, where talents from all Europe could meet, show and share
innovative and creative ideas. I submitted the low cost smart
wheelchair project, that was selected as finalist.
4 August 2008.
Could LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT technology be the brain of a low cost
wheelchair for children?
That's what Gina Wilson Burns asked me
time ago.
We share the basic
idea that the available off-the-shelf technology, contained even
in toys, can be used to improve the quality of life of disabled
people.
Hi Daniele
I am the mum of a five year old little
boy who is severely disabled. I am frustrated by
the lack of equipment to allow him a degree
independent mobility and freedom despite him being
immobile and partially blind.
I [...] wondered if some of that
technology could be incorporated with larger motors
and appropriate light weight seating to create a
SMART powered NXT wheelchair.
[...]
Ideally I would be interested in line
following options, possibly collision
avoidance[...] and maybe, down the track some of
the verbal command options. The current wheelchairs
out there are good, but so heavy and not suitable in
around other five year olds. [...]
