KD Smart Chair Sponsors UC of San Diego to Develop an Autonomous Wheelchair
Topic: Electric Wheelchairs
Author: KD Smart Chair
Published: 2018/11/15 - Updated: 2023/09/13
Publication Type: Product Release / Update
Contents: Summary - Introduction - Main Item - Related Topics
Synopsis: The end product of the Smart Wheelchair project will be an open source, low cost, assistive powered KD Smart Chair wheelchair with and autonomous navigation technologies. We are a team of undergraduate students with a goal of designing a smart wheelchair that can potentially change the lives of many people who struggle with permanent debilitating diseases that cause mobility and motor control. Our research and development team has been working hard for the past few years developing and focusing our efforts on improving the ride quality, drivability, and safety of our new model line of KD Smart Chair Special Edition power wheelchairs.
Introduction
KD Smart Chair announces their sponsorship collaboration with the University of California San Diego, Jacobs School of Engineering to develop an open source, low cost, wheelchair with assistive and autonomous navigation technologies.
Main Item
The team of undergraduate engineers at the Jacobs School of Engineering University of California, San Diego is working hard to achieve a Smart Wheelchair to make autonomy and a higher quality of life available to users. The mission of the Smart Wheelchair project will be an open source, low cost, assistive powered KD Smart Chair wheelchair with and autonomous navigation technologies.
Dr. Jack Silberman Ph. D. is the principal investigator of the team. He has more than 20 years of experience in robotics and automation. Key team members include Dr. Deborah Foster Ph. D. and project manager Shemaiah Barton. The entire team of student researchers contributes to the project in a variety of ways to reach their goal of designing a power wheelchair that can improve people's lives.
Wireless Computer Controls
The project manager for the team says:
"Our progress so far is that we have tapped into the joystick of KD Smart Chair and are able to move the wheelchair via wireless computer controls. We have partnered with #MeAction and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. We are currently in the process of gathering user studies to find out what the best human user interface will look like. We are looking into the idea of using a phone or tablet application with planned destinations throughout the home where a user could choose out of a list of locations where they would like to go."
"Our current plan is to use a voice recognition similar to how Amazon's Alexa can recognize a voice command and respond with feedback. Our goal would be for a user to be able to call the wheelchair to come to them if it is not beside them. Once in the wheelchair, the user will be able to give a command to take them to a destination inside their house."
"The next step for our team is to mount sensors on the wheelchair so that it will have object detection; this will include stair and drop off detection as well as provide the ability for a wheelchair to navigate through doorways and made tight turns without any user assistance. This is done using LIDAR and a 3D camera similar to the design of autonomous cars. We plan to have this obstacle avoidance up and running in the next month. Stay tuned for our progress updates."
So far, the result of the research, development and new innovative design is a wheelchair that only weighs 59 pounds and provides users with the freedom to live life to the fullest.
We are excited to collaborate with the Jacobs School of Engineering University of California, San Diego and offer our wheelchairs to their undergraduate students. Our research and development team has been working hard for the past few years developing and focusing our efforts on improving the ride quality, drivability, and safety of our new model line of KD Smart Chair Special Edition power wheelchairs, explains Roland Reznik, CEO of KD Smart Chair.
"We have added additional features to our new model line of chairs to improve the quality of life for our customers and end users."
The new FDA approved models both easily unfold in seconds by simply pushing a button which makes it easy to transport.
They ship fully assembled to consumers from Florida. Users just need to unpack the wheelchair, charge it and enjoy their new found freedom.
KD Smart Chair
KD Smart Chair is a global innovator of lightweight power wheelchairs including their standard, heavy duty and special edition models.
The wheelchair models are FDA cleared mobility devices that were designed to be the most convenient electric wheelchairs on the market today. All models are made of strong aluminum alloy and are built for comfort, durability, safety, and reliability.
UC San Diego Smart Open Source Wheelchair
We are a team of undergraduate students with a goal of designing a smart wheelchair that can potentially change the lives of many people who struggle with permanent debilitating diseases that cause mobility and motor control. This research is lead by Ph. D. Jack Silberman, an engineering lecturer at UC San Diego with over 20 years of industry experience in medtech, robotics, and biotech.
The smart wheelchair project is providing our team opportunities for medical and robotics research in the area of Quality of Life (QOL) which will help them develop into professional engineers with applicable skills when they enter the job field while providing an open source hardware and software design.
Attribution/Source(s):
This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by KD Smart Chair, and published on 2018/11/15 (Edit Update: 2023/09/13), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, KD Smart Chair can be contacted at kdsmartchair.com. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.
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Cite This Page (APA): KD Smart Chair. (2018, November 15 - Last revised: 2023, September 13). KD Smart Chair Sponsors UC of San Diego to Develop an Autonomous Wheelchair. Disabled World. Retrieved October 10, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/mobility/wheelchairs/electric/smart-chair.php
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