Assistive Mobility Control Using User State and Environment Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with deteriorated bodily or cognitive functions face significant challenges in operating electric wheelchairs safely and independently, as existing automatic obstacle avoidance systems are insufficient in ensuring independence and safety.
Innovation Solution
A mobility system equipped with a posture sensing unit, speech analysis unit, physiological state detection unit, environment sensing unit, and information communication unit, which adjusts travel states based on user intentions, physiological conditions, and environmental data to ensure safe and independent navigation, while also providing emergency alerts and feedback to the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automatic obstacle avoidance function is mounted on electric wheelchair, then collision safety is improved, but independence of user with deteriorated bodily or cognitive function is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the user's operational state through multiple sensors (posture sensing unit, speech analysis unit, physiological state detection unit) and provides real-time feedback by adjusting travel states. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the wheelchair to adapt to the user's actual condition, maintaining both safety and independence even when cognitive or bodily functions deteriorate.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobility device autonomously adjusts its travel state by integrating data from multiple sensing units without requiring external assistance. The system independently processes user intentions, physiological feedback, and environmental data to make real-time travel adjustments, enabling users with deteriorated functions to maintain independence while ensuring safety through self-monitoring and self-adjustment capabilities.
2Reliability
If multiple sensing units and adjustment mechanisms are integrated, then travel safety and user intention reflection are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple sensing units (posture sensing, speech analysis, physiological state detection, environment sensing) and control functions into a unified mobility device system. By merging these components into a coordinated integrated control unit, the system manages complexity through consolidation while maintaining comprehensive safety monitoring and user intention recognition capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated control unit serves multiple functions simultaneously: it processes data from various sensing units, recognizes user intentions through multiple modalities (posture, speech, physiological signals), monitors environmental conditions, and adjusts travel states. This multi-functional design reduces overall system complexity by using a single control unit to perform diverse tasks rather than separate dedicated systems for each function.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided are a mobility and a mobility system which enable a person who requires nursing care with a deteriorated bodily function or cognitive function to lead a life with greater independence. The drive and travel of the mobility by the travel drive unit are controlled by adjusting the current travel state of the mobility to an optimal travel state for ensuring safety while reflecting the user's intention based on the current operation instruction detected by the operation unit, the command signal generated by the voluntary control unit, the travel environment sensed by the environment sensing unit, and the respective types of environmental information acquired by the information acquisition unit.