A Monocular Camera as an Operation Logger for Motorized Mobility Scooters: Visual Odometry Method to Estimate Steering and Throttle Angles

Motorized mobility scooters (MMSs) are vital assistive technology devices that facilitate independent living for older adults. In many cases, older adults with physical impairments operate MMSs without special licenses, increasing the risk of accidents caused by operational errors. Although sensing systems have been developed to record MMS operations and evaluate driving skills, they face challenges in clinical applications because of the complexity of installing inertial measurement units (IMUs). This study proposes a novel recording system for MMS operation that uses a compact single-lens camera and image processing. The system estimates steering and throttle angles during MMS operation using optical flow and template matching approaches. Estimation relies on road surface images captured by a single monocular camera, significantly reducing the complexity of the sensor setup. The proposed system successfully estimated the steering angle with comparable accuracy to existing approaches using IMUs. Estimation of the throttle angle was negatively affected by the inertia of the MMS body during acceleration and deceleration but demonstrated high accuracy during stable driving conditions. This method provides a fundamental computational technique for measuring MMS operations using camera images. With its simple setup, the proposed system enhances the usability of recording systems for evaluating MMS driving skills.