Novel Alternative Approaches for Developing Smart

Abstract — Independent mobility is critical to quality of life for people of all ages and impaired mobility leaves one with both physical and mental frustration. Assistive technologies have been dedicated to providing additional accessibility to individuals who have physical impairments and disabilities. Unfortunately, there are some individuals unable to operate an electric wheelchair due to physical, perceptual, or cognitive deficits. Some elderly and disabled users also have restricted limb movements caused by some diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and quadriplegics. The prime objective of the present research was to explore various novel technologies that are incorporated to develop intelligent wheelchairs which can provide mobility assistance to individuals who would otherwise find it difficult or impossible to operate a power wheelchair. The smart wheelchairs discussed throughout this paper serve users with wide range of impairments. Each of them differs from each other in terms of control, safety, comfort, flexibility, weariblity and sophistication. This paper presents a review of the literature on different types of contemporary wheelchairs and prototype being proposed by researchers throughout the world. In addition, research trends and challenges in this field are identified and directions for future research are discussed. Index terms-Assistive Technology, electric-powered wheelchairs, independent mobility, Parkinson’s disease, quadriplegics, smart wheelchair, wheelchair prototype I