Recent trends in wheelchair to assist the physically challenged

Abstract

In this paper a survey of autonomous wheelchair has been proposed for physically handicapped people, which serves their crucial role for maneuvering by simply moving their neck. To fulfill this objective, this paper involves Arduino board programmed for processing & controlling the wheelchair. Micro switches are used here to sense the neck movements from the disabled person and which further send this to Arduino for taking necessary action to move the wheelchair accordingly. GPS module is integrated with the Arduino to locate the physically disabled person in case of emergencies. In addition to this, GSM module is been used for sending crucial information regarding the physically disabled person’s health issues if any, like body temperature, to further send this to his/her contact person/assigned care-taker. In some special case of physically challenged person who is not able to move any of his/her body part except fingers, this paper gives the better perspective to make a movement of the wheelchair by simply controlling it by virtue of an android app installed on the wheelchair. An android app is developed to serve as inputs for processing and controlling the DC motors for the desired maneuverings.