Ein benutzer- und umgebungsangepasstes Steuerungssystem für die Zielführung roboterbasierter Gehhilfen

Mobility aids such as walkers are some of the most important devices for elderly and frail people to maintain mobility and thus live an independent, self-supported life. Even though conventional walkers are fairly easy to use devices a significant number of accidents involving walker use are reported every year. Additionally, even when using a walker, many elderly people need to be accompanied by nurses when moving around. Other people use wheelchairs although they are still able to walk. Robotic walkers able to perceive and localize themselves in their environment and to guide their user to a target can enhance the independence of elderly or disabled persons with mobility constraints. Within this thesis a control system for robotic walking aids has been developed that perceives its environment and adapts the path to the given target accordingly, can be adapted to the capabilities and needs of its user, and adapts its motion in real-time to the motion of the user and therefore ensures his safe support at all times. In order to adjust the motion direction of the robotic walker to the environment and to the input of the user, the method of elastic bands has been adapted and extended. The elastic band algorithm automatically smoothens a given path and leads it around obstacles detected in the environment. In order to consider the input of the user, when the desired motion direction of the user diverges significantly from the planned motion; different modifications of the elastic band can be activated. The adequate path modification strategy is selected depending on the desired motion direction of the walking aid user and the obstacles detected within the vicinity of the robot. The user and environment adaptive control system has been implemented and tested on the mobile robot assistant Care-O-bot® II. In order to prove the correct function and usefulness of the guidance system, a field test was done in an elderly people's residence. It could be shown that the control system meets all specified requirements