Intelligent robotic wheelchairs (iRWs) and light mobility vehicles developed by four university research teams were the focus of attention at a National Science Council press conference in Taipei yesterday, the fruit of a “mission-oriented project” sponsored by the council.
Fourteen teams made up of 117 professors and 333 students took part in the project, which was led by Sung Cheng-kuo (宋震國), a professor at National Tsing Hua University’s department of power mechanical engineering.
An iRW named “Hug” — built by a team led by Hsu Yeh-liang (徐業良), a professor at Yuen Ze University’s department of mechanical engineering and director of its Gerontechnology Research Center — grabbed first prize in the dream-realization category at the robot competition during the four-day 2011 Taipei International Robot Show that ended on Sunday.
Photo: Tang Chia-ling, Taipei Times
“Hug” features a seat adjustment mechanism that can tilt forward and backward.
The chair can spin 360? and move in any direction in narrow indoor spaces, parallel shift about 15cm to the side to enable easier access to another seat or a bed, and the seat elevates to allow the user to reach objects at different heights, said Hsu Po-er (許博爾), a doctoral researcher and team member.
“The idea came from visits to my 98-year-old grandmother at an daycare center for the elderly,” Hsu said, adding that his team had seen elderly people sitting in wheelchairs all day who had difficulty moving around on their own.
One older person told him that sitting in a wheelchair feels like “you are endlessly waiting” for assistance from others.
Another iRW developed by a team led by Kuo Chung-Hsien (郭重顯), an associate professor at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Medical Robotic Laboratory, features one-of-a-kind instinctive panels to replace the joystick on electronic wheelchairs.
A remote control for household electronic appliances is also integrated through a portable browser that can be installed on the chair so that television, lights, radio and other items can be turned on or off from the chair.
Both iRWs combine healthcare-monitoring devices so that the users can be aware of their health status at any time.
Other iRWs also included supports for users to stand up safely, providing rehabilitation functions while allowing the users’ to meet people at the same level of height.
Lee Ming-yih (李明義), a professor at Chang Gung University’s Graduate Institute of Medical Mechatronics, said it has been 65 years since the beginning of baby boom generation, so an aging society will need such chairs and other devices.
Sung said they expected to transfer the technology for key components or systems of the iRWs to research organizations or industries for further development.
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