C-walker: A cyber-physical system for ambient assisted living

Abstract

The c-Walker is a smart rollator that provides physical sustain to people with mobility difficulties together with a cognitive support to overcome disabilities related to the decrement of sensorial abilities. The proposed system is made of a conventional walker equipped with a variety of sensors, actuators, user interfaces, and computing units. Various algorithms monitor environmental data. The system processes them to define the safest path for the user, and transmits useful information for navigation via multiple interfaces to the assisted person. Moreover, the system can take control of the direction to avoid hazards. To design and develop the c-Walker, we adopt state-of-the-art design methodologies that assist the designers in the integration phase. In this work we describe the technology of hardware and software components included in the prototype device.