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A spin-off from the KU Leuven Campus Bruges has launched a smart wheelchair for people who are “trapped in their bodies”. The invention uses sensors and artificial intelligence that ensure that a small movement of the feet or head can control the wheelchair. In this case, involuntary movements are recognized and ignored.
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dvtSource: Belgian
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“It concerns, for example, wheelchair users with cerebral palsy. They are in a lock-in: they are, as it were, trapped in their own bodies. Their intellectual capabilities are still fine, but their severe motor problems limit their options. As a result, they make many involuntary movements, which means that they cannot operate a traditional electric wheelchair. They are therefore dependent on the help of others for their trips,” says Professor Elegast Monbaliu of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (KU Leuven). “Our wheelchair control system is changing that.”
The operating system was named CoMoveIT Smart, and works with a head-foot control system with sensors. Those sensors capture the pressure given via the head or feet, allowing the user to accelerate. Moving left and right is done via the sensors on the feet. Some help is often needed to put the user in his or her chair, but from that moment on, he or she can control the wheelchair completely autonomously.
In addition, CoMoveIT Smart uses artificial intelligence to recognize and compensate for involuntary movements of the user. “This way the system can continuously adapt to its user. That way people can move more smoothly and gradually, compared to the previously shocking way they are progressing now,” says Monbaliu. “Thanks to this smart wheelchair, we can therefore give this group of users more autonomy, participation and quality of life.”
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