In the near future, the disabled and the crippled elderly can have a type of the intelligent wheelchair: when you sit on it and give directions to it, it can accurately bring you to your destination. It is the robot for the disabled which has been developing by the research fellows from Department of Automation, ShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity. At the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, this new type of robot will be unveiled in the Life & Sunshine Pavilion (the Pavilion of the Cause of the Disabled Persons). During the National Day holiday, the research fellows lost no time to improve the speech recognition capability and computing capacity and design a beautiful and neat shape for it.

Compared with the traditional wheelchair, the intelligent wheelchair has “a head”, “eyes”and “ears”which respectively are the computer-controlled system, the camera and the laser detector, and microphones as well. Before using it, you need to lead this “new friend”to orient itself in its work area by telling it “here is Number X Booth, and there is the walkway. By turning the corner, you will get to the restroom…” It will follow you and draw the environmental map in its “head”.

The research fellows demonstrated in the laboratory: sitting on the intelligent wheelchair and issuing the directive of “restroom”to the left-hand-side microphone. “Do you want to go to the restroom?”The wheelchair asked to confirm. “Yes.”Answered the research fellow. “OK, I’ve received the directive. Please hold on to your hat.”The wheelchair started to move along the corridor and made a turn. The laser detector and camera equipped in front of the wheelchair identified the surroundings along; the wheelchair chose the optimal path and soon got to the door of the restroom.

Professor Chen Weidong, the team leader of “the R & D of Concept Prototype of Robot for the Disabled and the Elderly”, told the correspondent that to make the wheelchair intelligent, a lot of technology was required, including human computer interaction technology which enabled the wheelchair to understand human gestures through camera and make out human words through microphone. Even in a noisy circumstance, it can hear the owner and make right judgment on the information. The accurate positioning and precise control technology should seek to enable the wheelchair to “memorize”various markers in the larger context and at a longer distance, draw the map and immediately figure out the most convenient path to each marker. Meanwhile, the intelligent wheelchair also needs the “adaptability”, so that in its marching, if there is people passing by it, or there is a small stool in the way at the time, it can flexibly make way. “The research task to improve the work accuracy and stability of the robot for the disabled is ceaseless.”Said Chen Weidong. Currently, the research fellows are also experimenting the intelligent wheelchair to achieve “all wishes coming true”with EEG (Electroencephalography).The intelligent wheelchair is the result which has been made through three-year research by research fellows of SJTU. The current cost is equivalent to that of a family car. In addition, research fellows are also developing other robots for the disabled and the elderly, for example, the mechanical arm which can be installed on the hospital bed and follow the master’s instruction to fetch objects. When the master wants it to get some drink, food, or medicine, the “eyes”on its paw can immediately search for and identify the target objects, extend its arm, and fetch the object with its moveable joints. It can also do some simple actions, such as opening the door, or turning on the light. Another example is the intelligent walker which can “intimately”assist the elderly to walk and lead the way for them. With the constant upgrading and improving of the high technology, in the future society, the disabled and the elderly can enjoy the intelligent life brought by the robot.