Wheelchair that has own mechanical arm

Author JoeDigital

There are a growing number of people today who are confined to a wheelchair for the major portion of their lives, and an increasing number of them are completely dependent on assistance from others. Powered wheelchairs have helped a great deal, but computer technology and robotic technology have taken a bold step forward, and added a mechanical arm to a wheelchair, giving a literal helping hand to people who haven’t had one of their own for years.

Because such problems are often indicative of complete paralysis, the robotic arm is controlled using EEG, which amount to brain waves. This isn’t exactly the same as human to machine telepathy, but it sure looks a lot like it to people who aren’t familiar with today’s computer aided machines.

This chair, which is not yet ready for market, but may be available within the next five years, was developed by a team at the University of South Florida. Not only does the device offer a mechanical arm to manipulate objects, but it gives a paralyzed owner something that is not available with any form of human assistance: self-respect and personal esteem.

Initial testing by human users has successfully proven that the WMRA control system can be used without having the user to use even a single muscle. The WMRA also will not use any pre-programmed movements unless chosen by the user beforehand. Rajiv Dubey, professor and chair of the USF Department of Mechanical Engineering, and director of the Center for Rehabilitation Engineering & Technology, has mentioned in passing that such a design (in the field of intelligent therapeutic and assistive robotic systems such as the WMRA) is based on sensor-fusion technology, which is utilized to map limited human input into complex motion via a method known as “sensor-assisted scaled teleoperation.”

Wheelchair that has own mechanical arm

Wheelchair that has own mechanical arm

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