Smart Wheelchair with Dual Control using Touchpad and Android Mobile Device

Abstract

The general objective of the design was to develop a touchpad controlled Android-based electronic wheelchair. It aimed to construct the Android-based circuitry and program for the path finding mechanism of the drive system and interface the Arduino-based circuit to the electronic wheelchair setup. It was designed to evaluate the system in terms of the speed of the electronic wheelchair, reliability of the sensors to avoid obstacle, and ease of use of the wheelchair. C Programming Language was used by the system to control and manipulate the microcontroller, Gizduino AtMega644. The Android application was programmed using the Java Language and Eclipse as the IDE. Its ports were used to interface input and output devices such as the ultrasonic sensors, infrared proximity sensor, touchpad, Bluetooth module, motor and motor driver. There was a satisfactory rating for the evaluation of the system while the Android software was rated excellent as a navigational controller.