Design and Development of Smart Wheelchair from Lecture Chair

Wheelchairs play a vital role in providing mobility for individuals with physical disabilities. Enhancing these devices with modern technology significantly improves user convenience and overall functionality. A key enhancement involves integrating smartphones into wheelchair systems. While conventional wheelchairs are generally operated manually, this research presents a smart wheelchair prototype adapted from a standard classroom chair, which is wirelessly controlled using a smartphone via Bluetooth and an Arduino Uno R3 microcontroller. The project involves developing both a mobile application and embedded software. The mobile app is created through a visual block-based programming interface, while the Arduino side is coded using C++. The wheelchair.s movement is managed through the smartphone app, where the Arduino acts as the central controller, a DC motor drives the wheelchair, and an ultrasonic sensor adds a safety mechanism. This prototype offers enhanced safety through precise sensing and supports users weighing up to 53 kg. Performance tests revealed that the ultrasonic sensor accurately detected obstacles in two out of three trials, with one minor deviation due to its 0.3 cm margin of error. The wheelchair runs efficiently at a speed of 0.28 m/s under a 53 kg load, although speed decreases as the load increases.