Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

Honda announced the personal mobility device, the U3-X. Device looks like robotic unicycle, and is designed to help people with disabilities to move around. Honda will showcase U3-X personal mobility device at Tokyo Motor show later in October.

U3-X is based on technology developed in Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo. Honda is well known for its R&D in robotics and assistive technology, and although its announcements are many (see the one about artificial robotic leg) most of this is still years away from production and sale. Looks like Honda is competing heavily against local rival Toyota, which is also aggressive on robotics and research – and both move in similar direction (toyota shows segway personal transporter with seat, toyota and mind controlled wheelchair, toyota i-swing personal mobility device)…

Anyhow, U3-X is on contrary with Toyota’s i-Swing a small device, which is also very portable. It can be carried around and put in trunk with ease. U3-X has a seat height a bit higher than an average person’s waist line, so passenger must “jump” on it to commence the ride. Passenger then puts his his feet to the foot rests (similar as found on motor bikes). The rest is already known from segway – passenger leans in the direction he wants to go, and U3-X personal mobility device moves. It can drive in 8 directions (cross and diagonally as well) and reaches a top speed of 3,7 MHP (5,5 km/h) – meaning that it moves at pace of average persons walk.

Honda’s chairman Takanobu Ito commented that “And if my legs get a little weak, I would like to have one of these around the house. It makes it easy to move about.”. We guess he has a big house… Honda did not want to comment on price and availability of the U3-X nor any plans to produce similar versions of power wheel chair or electric wheel chair devices like toyota i-swing where user sits and leans back on it…

See link to video on the next page.

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Today experts from Veda International Robot Research and Development Centre in Japan, unvieled the prototype of a new type of electric wheelchair. New, high tech robotic wheelchair looks more like a scooter than traditional wheelchair, but it promises greater mobility for injured hospitalized patients, and hopes to replace not only existing wheelchairs but also two-wheeled vehicles of future.

New electric wheelchair is called Rodem. User sits on the four-wheeled wheelchair similar like on scooter. User rests his knees and chest on the cushions, steering the wheelchair with a joystick wile holding on to motorbike-style handles. The result is that user feels less load on their body.  

The whole new approach to electric wheelchair design allows users to mount the device more easily, and dismount it quickly and with less strain and pain as well. Target audience are elderly, hospitalized for smaller injuries which prevent them from freely moving around without help. Rodem is lessening reliance on care-givers to lift these patients.

Rodem promises greater mobility. Its prototype was demonstrated in the medical university in Tokyo. The two main wheels of the Rodem are independently driven by a control valve type lead battery. Autonomy of the electric wheelchair is around four hours per charge. Maximum moving speed is 6km/h, but can be set to lower limits as well. The dimensions of the Rodem are equivalent to the size of a normal wheelchair, and it weights about 200 lbs (100kg). It also features small minimum turning diameter.

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Devices controlled with brain-waves are becoming a reality. On Monday, June 29th 2009, Toyota demonstrated an electric wheelchair, controlled by user’s brain waves. Approach is similar to other stories we covered in past (Live demo of mind-controlled electric wheelchair, Brain Controlled Electric Wheelchair and Mind Controlled Mouse Pointer (part 1), Brain Controlled Electric Wheelchair and Mind Computer Mouse Pointer (part 3 + The conclusion), Intelligent Autonomous Remote Controlled Electric Wheelchair).

User still needs to attach sensor grid on the head. The EEG sensor cap  measures electrical activity in the brain through five electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes. These are placed above the areas of the brain which handle motor movement. The sensors interpret the signals they pick up and translate them into motion.   System processes thought patterns without learning or training and translates them into movement of wheelchair. Electric wheelchair can accordingly move left, right or forward. Sensory system is processing data in real time, so delay between the thought and action of wheelchair is less than 125 ms. Competitive solutions require substantially more time – growing to seconds, which makes movement less natural and more difficult. Toyota’s solution (well, actually Toyota is only a sponsor of researchers from BSI-Toyota collaboration center) does not require the driver to learn special “signals”, but instead this mind-controlled electrical wheelchair will move forward when driver thinks of walking. According to Toyota the wheelchair is able to understand a record 95% of all commands coming from the drivers.

Toyota representatives described growing demand on similar accessibility products by Japan’s growing older population (in 40 years the percentage of seniors will account for more than 40% of Japanese population). Thinking is natural, and requires less learning so  brain-machine interface system will be more robust and simpler than voice-controlled system. System even “learns” by analyzing the behavior of the driver, which means that driver can improve the accuracy over time.

Japan has been always very strong in advanced robotics, and recent encourage by government fueled new research and development even further. It comes as no surprise, that other Japanese companies like Honda and Hitachi, are also working on brain-wave-machine technologies.

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You are a big, strong person.  All your life you’ve been known as rugged, out of doors, and powerful.  Your first toy was a fire engine, your first pet was a husky, and when you got your first car, it was a truck.  You know all the back roads by heart and you’ve never let anything get in your way for long.  Now, life has put a new obstacle in your path; physical disability.  Are you the type of person that is going to let that slow you down?  Doesn’t sound like it to me!  If life says you need a wheelchair, then you should demand one that matches who you are.  A heavy duty person needs a heavy duty wheelchair.

The difference between a normal or electric chair and their heavy duty counterparts lies mainly in the construction.  A conventional wheelchair will work soundly for many years on pavement, asphalt and indoors.  They are meant for mainly urban and suburban environments.  But try and take a conventional model down a trail, or over other bumpy terrain, and more than likely it can break.

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Owning a portable wheelchair is an important first step towards reclaiming the independence that a disability can take away from you.  Mobility is often times a challenge for the disabled, but it need not be.  Putting an emphasis on portability instead of overall ability can change one’s entire outlook on life.

Owning a portable wheelchair means several things, some of them bad, but many of them positive. Consider that most wheelchairs can be a two person undertaking.  This means that while in your chair, you will have a friend, family member or loved one always behind you, helping you on your way.  For many, this is very comforting.  Companionship of this sort will also help to bring you closer to those around you, and help elucidate the many reasons to be happy that these people are in your life.

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Be it from injury, illness, or simply the wear and tear of old age, you now need a wheelchair in your everyday life.  You’re means of moving around may have changed, but regardless of your situation, you are still the same person with the same style and look that you have cultivated your entire life.  Depending on the type of wheelchair you pick, it too can be a part of your style.  Why not try a jazzy wheelchair?

Everything you wear and do says a lot about you as a person.  Instead of looking at your wheelchair as a handicap, why not embrace it as a new, stylish accessory?  Find a shape and level that matches your own personal look, pair that with the right color scheme, and you’ll find yourself way ahead of the game!

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The questions surrounding wheelchair mobility are many and varied.  Where can and can’t a person in a wheelchair go?  What sort and quality of ride should be expected?  How much of an expense will maintenance and repairs be?  How does the quality of certain kinds of wheelchairs match up?  As with any question of this magnitude, you should ask a doctor or other professional to advise you on the specifics of your situation.  Nevertheless, there are a number of general guidelines that you can learn on your own.

A wheelchair is really only as capable as the terrain it is going over.  Think of it as a car.  You may have the nicest Humvee and the best driving skill, but if the road isn’t passable, none of that matters.  This is true of wheelchairs just as it is true of people walking.  So, your wheelchair mobility is more a question of the decisions you make regarding where you take your chair.

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