Prototyping potential control systems to assist complete quadriplegics

This paper discusses a versatile wheelchair control system of potential use to complete quadriplegics. This system employs plug-in components using a common control protocol between the distributed computers. Two headset plug-in units have been developed together with two prototype wheelchairs and an automatic shopping trolley. The trolley would be of most use to a paraplegic, but suggestions are made to show how this could potentially be developed to plug into the control system as a type of “personal assistant”. The system has been prototyped using language-independent commands so that it can potentially be used by quadriplegics speaking any of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken on Earth. LEGO MindStorms NXT equipment has been used to prototype this system.