Specialized Electronic Wheelchair.doc

Specialized Electronic Wheelchair For a Cerebral Palsy Patient Prepared by: Joshua Buck Christopher Carpenter Casey Kiister Kyle Magrini The University of Tulsa Tulsa, Oklahoma October 25, 2007 Project Objective The objective of this project is to design and construct control hardware needed for an electronic wheelchair for people with severe handicaps that do not have independent control over their own movements and/or cannot communicate with other people. As it is obvious, the ability to control your own movement and communicate are crucial abilities in being able to work. One such person is a six-year old child named Abigail. Abigail was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. Even though she is mentally alert, she is wheelchair bound, can not verbally communicate and she is limited to only minute head and hand control. Her physical response time is somewhat delayed. Because of this condition, Abigail requires special control systems for mobility. She does not have enough motion control in her arms or hands to operate a normal electric wheelchair. Furthermore, she does not have the ability to interact or verbally communicate with the world. To address these issues, the design team plans to design and construct a specialized electronic wheelchair for Abigail. Also included would be a robust user interface, simple enough for her to use and control all aspects of the wheelchair. The user interface utilizes visual and audio cues for control of the system. These proposed ideas are governed by several project goals: to give Abigail more independence and ensure her safety. Furthermore, the wheelchair platform should be simple to learn and operate, visually appealing, and capable of future expansion. Work Scope The specialized wheelchair will include options from four discrete categories: environmental controls, communication, entertainment, and motion controls. The environmental control system will give Abigail power to use three separate functions: