To assist those who are paralyzed or have mobility difficulties. the Madras Section of the Sri Sai Ram Engineering College Student Branch has worked with Dr. V S Natarajan Geriatric Foundation to create a smart outdoor wheelchair.
With the smart features built into this device, the wheelchair will provide assistance to wheelchair users to improve physical quality of life as well as mental well-being. To do this, the wheelchair has: an application for use by caretakers to ensure the safety of the user, a self-drivable feature to ensure independence, the possibility for remote operation by use of a caretaker, map integration for navigation, wireless connectivity capabilities, a smart voice assistant, medication reminders with a built in medicine kit, audio and video calls, stress level monitoring via physical sensors, and video recording to ensure safety.
The wheelchair is made of aluminum alloy for sturdiness and corrosion resistance. The electronic components are kept safe under the seat. This project was created with sustainability in mind, with a reduced cost to ensure economic accessibility as well.
With such a large population of potential users for this project, it is hoped to reach as large of an audience as possible.
This project was created with a grant of $900.00 as part of the EPICS in IEEE’s Access and Abilities competition.