CARE: Campus-wide accessible route estimation through surface analysis

Abstract

Travelling is not always fun for wheelchair users in the built environment (both indoor and outdoor) in presence of various unknown barriers, such as, uneven sidewalks, curb heights, stairs, ramps, cobbled streets, etc. Also, elderly individuals are more likely to require assistance while using self-propelled and non-motorized wheelchairs. However, along with barriers there are also various wheelchair-friendly facilities, such as, supervised crosswalks and elevators, which improve accessibility of environments and facilities. In this project, we plan to develop a Campus-wide Accessible Route Estimation (CARE) System which works through a large-scale vibration data analysis (created by wheelchair movement) from different built or natural surfaces and aims to classify the surfaces into accessible and inaccessible. The goal is to find accessible routes for wheelchair users.