Mobility and Health Monitoring in People with Different Abilities: A Prototype Enhancing Independence: Innovating an IoT-Integrated Wheelchair for

Abstract

Wheelchair is an essential tool for people with disabilities, enabling them to move around independently and participate fully in society. They come in different types, such as manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, sports wheelchairs, and pediatric wheelchairs among others. Certain types of disabilities such as Monoplegia, Hemiplegia, Paraplegia, and Quadriplegia pose difficulties in using conventional power wheelchairs. To overcome these hurdles and provide ease to differently-abled individuals, an Advance Monitoring and Assistive Wheelchair (AMAW) is proposed in this work. The Prototype includes a voice-controlled system for controlling the movement of a wheelchair, an IoT-based real-time health monitoring system to monitor the vitals of the patient remotely, a fall detection system for detecting falls, a tracking system for position and location, and an alarm system to alert caretaker in case of a fall. The real-time embedded monitoring system allows the monitoring of the user’s vital signs like temperature, pulse rate and oxygen saturation and the assistive part allows the wheelchair to move around electronically either through voice or through mobile application.  With the assistance of various sensors, the data can easily be monitored remotely by the caretaker at regular intervals of the time. The data display on the LCD fitted onto the wheelchair and in the designed mobile application. Furthermore, the whereabouts of the user are sent via the alert system that notifies the caretaker through GSM in case of changes in parameters and if the user has lost the balance. The vitals through the sensors on the prototype has undergone testing on number of individuals with precise outcomes. In comparison to typical joystick-controlled wheelchairs, this project excels in several aspects, such as its ability to stop or turn using voice commands and avoid collisions with people, furniture, fixed objects, and walls. The user friendly AMAW prototype with real-time monitoring, assistance and alert system may serve as a cost-effective solution in maintaining and providing an independent quality life to differently-abled individuals.