Electric Wheelchair Controlled by Joystick and Android/iOS Smartphone

Abstract

A wheelchair is used by people who are difficult to walk because of having physical problems, injuries, or disabilities. There are many options and different types of wheelchairs such as manual wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs, and scooters depending on the patient’s financial ability, physical limits, and strength. Not all people with movement disabilities have enough strength especially elders. Moreover, there is no wheelchair controlled by smartphones currently available in the market and even custom-made electric wheelchairs are very expensive. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to provide a solution to this matter by modifying an existing manual wheelchair that would use smartphones (android/iOS) and joystick to control its movement. So, the rationale of this project is it can help patients with movement difficulty to move easily with significantly at a lower cost. Implementation of this project will be using System Development (SDLC) Life Cycle methodology that divide the complex task into several phases of development. This project will be divided into two parts, namely the implementation of hardware and software. The main hardware of this system consists of Arduino microcontrollers and motors that can be controlled using a smartphone via Bluetooth module and joystick. Ultrasonic sensors are located on the rear of this wheelchair to detect objects or obstacles and buzz the buzzer so that the person who uses it can be acknowledged when there are objects behind during reverse movement. The software part will consist of Arduino programming using Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) software and mobile apps programming using Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) App Inventor software. In the end, the implementation of this project can be used in universities, companies, hospitals, and at home as well to facilitate someone's movement without having to rely too much on help from others. In conclusion, this project is expected can help the disability and elder to move freely and control the electric wheelchair by themselves independently.