Robotic Wheelchair Moving with Caregiver Collaboratively

This paper introduces a robotic wheelchair that can automatically move alongside a caregiver. Because wheelchair users are often accompanied by caregivers, it is vital to consider how to reduce a caregiver’s load and support their activities, while simultaneously facilitating communication between the caregiver and the wheelchair user. Moreover, a sociologist pointed out that when a wheelchair user is accompanied by a companion, the latter is inevitably seen by others as a caregiver rather than a friend. In other words, the equality of the relationship is publicly undermined when the wheelchair is pushed by a companion. Hence, we propose a robotic wheelchair able to move alongside a companion, and facilitate easy communication between the companion and the wheelchair user. Laser range sensors are used for tracking the caregiver and observing the environment around the wheelchair. To confirm the effectiveness of the wheelchair in real-world situations, we conducted experiments at an elderly care center in Japan. Results and analyses are also reported in this paper.