Autonomous Mobility Scooter as an Assistive Outdoor Tool for the Elderly

Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual design for a mobility scooter capable of outdoor autonomous navigation in an urban environment. The presented design of the mobility scooter has three stages. The first being the modification of a mobility scooter’s current drive system to accommodate steering by wire on top of manual steering. The next stage presented is the design of a suitable on-board sensor placement configuration. This design configuration aims to place the navigational sensors on the mobility scooter in locations that are neither obstructive to the passenger’s vision and movement while still maintaining a free and clear field of sensing. The paper presents a configuration that allows the placement of the sensors not to alter the original outlook of the mobility scooter. The third and final stage of the design is the development of the autonomous navigation system of the mobility scooter. The paper presents an overview of an outdoor navigational algorithm that fuses GPS and laser sensor data to follow a route in an urban environment while avoiding obstacles.