Autonomous mobility scooters as assistive tools for the elderly

Ntaki, A., 2013. Autonomous mobility scooters as assistive tools for the elderly. MPhil, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the development of an autonomous navigation system that could be used as an assistive tool for elderly and disabled people in their activities of daily living. The navigation environment is an urban environment and the platform is a Mobility Scooter (MoS). To achieve this aim, a differentially steered MoS was modifed to receive motion commands from a computer and outfitted with onboard sensors that included a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and two 2D planar laser range sensors. Perception methods were developed to detect the presence of an outdoor pedestrian walkway. These methods achieved this by processing the range data produced by the laser sensors to identify features that are typically found around walkways like curbs, low vegetation, walls and barriers. A method that utilises GPS localisation information to plan and navigate a route in an outdoor urban environment was also developed. Extensive experimental work was conducted to test the accuracy, repeatability and usefulness of the sensory devices. The developed perception methodologies were evaluated in real world environments while the navigation algorithms were predominantly tested in virtual environments. A navigation system that plans a route in an urban environment and follows it using behaviours arranged in a hierarchy is presented and shown to have the ability to safely navigate an MoS along an outdoor pedestrian path.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Ntaki, A.
Date:	2013
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 09:35
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2015 09:35
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/302

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