Researchers demonstrate Wiimote-controlled robotic wheelchair

Wheelchairs designed to help the elderly and others with disabilities to remain independent and mobile have undergone drastic changes with time and technology. The Personal Mobility Robot, or PMR, a Segway-styled self-ridden robotic wheelchair in itself is a unique concept from Toyota. But that’s slated to reach the ultimate level of exclusivity with two (Naotaka Hatao and Ryo Hanai) University of Tokyo researchers upgrading the PMR to be controllable by a Wiimote. This easy to navigate wheelchair comfortably (given the two-wheeled design for small turning radius, etc.) can negotiate indoors, outdoors, slopes and uneven surfaces with equal precision at maximum 6 kilometers per hour.

pmr wiimote controlled robotic wheelchair

Weighing in at about 150kg, the PMR besides the Wiimote control could also get an advanced navigation system running on two laptop computers in real time to localize itself and plan trajectories. Furthermore, the researchers are also expected to be developing a PMR model specific for indoors. This, a much lighter (approx. 45kg) robot, which would be ridden hands-free – shift the body right for a right turn and vice versa.

pmr wiimote controlled robo

Via: IEEE Spectrum