IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
                       Boston Chapter

                   Tuesday, April 9, 2002
                Informal Discussion: 6:00 PM
                      Program: 6:30 PM

                Shared User-Computer Control
               of a Robotic Wheelchair System

                       Holly A. Yanco
                    Assistant Professor
                Computer Science Department
             University of Massachusetts Lowell
             One University Avenue, Olsen Hall
                      Lowell, MA 01854
                  mailto:holly@cs.uml.edu


                          ABSTRACT

   An assistive robotic wheelchair system should allow its
user to travel more efficiently and with greater ease. The
robotic wheelchair system described in this talk,
Wheelesley, performs semi-autonomous navigation for its
user, taking high-level directional commands and performing
the low-level navigation required to avoid obstacles and
stay on a safe path. The system consists of a standard
powered wheelchair with an on-board computer for motor
control, a vision system, sensors, and a graphical user
interface running on a tray mounted notebook computer.

   Most other research on robotic wheelchairs has only
addressed indoor navigation; the Wheelesley system can
travel both indoors and outdoors using specialized
navigation modes. User tests have been conducted to compare
robotic assisted control to unassisted driving, showing more
than 70% less effort required by the user to drive with
robotic control.

   The system switches automatically between navigation
modes through the use of a novel indoor/outdoor detector.
The detector is comprised of an ultrasonic transducer, three
light-to-voltage optical sensors and a thermistor. The
sensor was trained on data from a wide variety of indoor and
outdoor conditions, classifying a test set of data correctly
98% of the time.

   The system can be easily customized for the access
method(s) required by each user. The talk will describe the
customization of the user interface for two different access
methods: eye tracking, an uncommon access method for a
wheelchair, and single switch scanning, which is considered
the driving method of last resort for standard powered
wheelchairs.

   Applications and possible extensions of this work for
other areas of robotics, including urban search and rescue,
will be discussed.


                         BIOGRAPHY

   Holly Yanco is an Assistant Professor in the Computer
Science Department at the University of Massachusetts
Lowell. She earned her MS and PhD degrees from MIT in 1994
and 2000. She has taught at Wellesley College, Boston
College, and ArsDigita University. Her research interests
include adjustable autonomy, assistive technology, multiple
robot teams, and human-robot interaction. She is a co-editor
of the book "Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence:
Assistive Technology and Artificial Intelligence." Dr. Yanco
is the co-chair of the AAAI Robot Competition and Exhibition
(2001 and 2002) and is the chair of the special interest
group on Assistive Robotics and Mechatronics of the
Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America. Dr.
Yanco is also a member of the IEEE.


                    MEETING INFORMATION

   The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society will meet on
Tuesday, April 9, 2002, at Wellesley High School at 6:00 PM
for informal discussions and for the formal presentation
between 6:30 and 7:30 PM. The group will have a no-host
dinner afterwards at Bertucci's, where more conversations
can take place with the guest speaker. The meetings are open
to the general public, and all are welcome at the dinner
afterwards.

   For more information contact Mike Brenner at 781-271-3806
or the Chapter email address: info@robotics-boston.org
(hotlink: mailto:info@robotics-boston.org).


                         DIRECTIONS

   From Route 128, take either Route 9 or Route 16 west.
From the junction of Routes 9 and 16, follow Route 16
(Washington Street) west past the Wellesley Hills commuter
rail station (within walking distance of the school), then
turn left onto Rice Street. Wellesley High School is on the
left. Parking is available in a lot just beyond the school.

   For a web map showing the location of Wellesley High
School, go to the Yahoo map site at http://maps.yahoo.com/
and enter the following information in the indicated
locations:

    Address:	50 Rice St
    City, State or ZIP: Wellesley, MA

The star marker is misplaced slightly to the south. Imagine
it about 1 cm toward the top of the map at Rice St.

   For more information about our Section and Chapter, visit
our web site at our registered domain URL

             http://www.robotics-boston.org/