Smart Power-Assist Module

Current Projects:

• Smart Wheelchairs
  • Drive Safe
  • Wheelchair Convoy System
• Personal Assistants
  • ICue - Interactive Task Guidance
  • Navigation Assistant

Power assistance for a manual wheelchair is a new technology which helps people use manual wheelchairs despite limited strength or endurance. In a power assisted manual wheelchair, the traditional rear wheels are replaced with motorized hubs that serve to magnify the force applied to the rear wheels by the user. AT Sciences is using power assistance as the basis for a Smart Power Assistance Module that provides independent mobility to non-ambulatory individuals with visual impairments. This product uses sensors to detect obstacles and drop-offs near the wheelchair, and uses the motorized hubs to help the wheelchair user avoid obstacles.

We believe that this product will benefit individuals with both a visual impairment and a mobility impairment that makes it difficult or impossible to travel independently using a white cane, dog guide, or other traditional mobility aid for the visually impaired. There are approximately 10 to 11 million blind and visually impaired people in North America. The American Federation for the Blind (AFB) has estimated that 9.61% of all individuals who are legally blind also use a wheelchair or scooter, and an additional 5.25% of individuals who have serious difficulties seeing (but are not legally blind) also use a wheelchair or scooter.

The Smart Power Assist Module was developed through a Phase I SBIR award from the NIH National Eye Institute (1R43EY014490-01).

Patent No. 7,204,328 awarded April 17, 2007.

Project Team

• Edmund LoPresti, PhD
• Casimir Mostowy
• Rory Cooper, PhD (University of Pittsburgh)
• Stephen Hayashi (Pittsburgh VA Health System)
• Jeremy R Puhlman (University of Pittsburgh)
• Vinod Sharma (University of Pittsburgh)
• Richard Simpson, PhD (University of Pittsburgh)

Publications

• Simpson RC, LoPresti EF, Hayashi S, Guo S, Ding D,Ammer W, Sharma V, Cooper R. (2005). A prototype power assist wheelchair that provides for obstacle detection and avoidance for those with visual impairments. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. 2:30.
• Ding D, Guo S, Hayashi S, LoPresti EF, Simpson R, Cooper RA. (2005). Software Design of the Smart Power Assistance Module for Manual Wheelchairs. Proceedings of the RESNA 2005 Annual Conference.
• Authier EL, Wyszomierski S, Zipfel E, Puhlman J, Guo S, Cooper R, LoPresti EF, Simpson R. (2005). Smart Power Assistance Module Mechanical Hardware Suitable for User Testing. Proceedings of the RESNA 2005 Annual Conference.
• Zipfel E, Cooper R, Authier E, LoPresti EF, Puhlman J, Simpson R, Wyszomierski S (2005). A Novel Sensor Housing Design for the Smart Power Assistance Module (SPAM). Proceedings of the RESNA 2005 Annual Conference.
• Sharma, V.K.. Hayashi, S. Martin, A. LoPresti, E.F., Simpson, R.C. Composite Sensor for Drop-off detection in Intelligent Mobility Aids. Proceedings of the RESNA 2004 Annual Conference. June 2004.
• Frisch, R.F., Guo S, Cooper R, LoPresti EF, Simpson R, Hayashi S, Ammer W. Hardware Design of the Smart Power Assistance Module for Manual Wheelchairs. Proceedings of the RESNA 2004 Annual Conference. June 2004.
• Simpson, R., LoPresti, E., Hayashi, S., Guo, S., Ding, D., Cooper, R. Smart Power Assistance Module for Manual Wheelchairs. Proceedings of the RESNA 2003 Annual Conference. June 2003.