Intelligent wheelchair simulator for users' training: Cerebral palsy children's case study

The use of real context simulation programs for training driving skills to control an intelligent wheelchair is an emergent area. The aim of this study is to verify if the exigency of use of the simulator of the IntellWheels project is adequate to the skills of children with cerebral palsy. A group study case was performed using children with cerebral palsy classified in the levels IV and V of the Gross Motor Function Classification System, aged between 6 and 12 years old. The user's performance in a wheelchair driving game using the Joystick and the Wiimote (for head movements' recognition) and the users' opinions about the system were studied. Results suggest that the system matches the children skills and it was verified that it was easier to drive the wheelchair with the joystick for most of the participants. Generally, the participants presented positive reactions, showing themselves satisfied with the experiment and convicted about the wheelchair future usability.

[1]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  Cerebral Palsy EEG Signals Classification: Facial Expressions and Thoughts for Driving an Intelligent Wheelchair , 2012, 2012 IEEE 12th International Conference on Data Mining Workshops.

[2]  Denise Reid,et al.  The influence of virtual reality on playfulness in children with cerebral palsy: a pilot study. , 2004, Occupational therapy international.

[3]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  IntellWheels - A Development Platform for Intelligent Wheelchairs for Disabled People , 2008, ICINCO-RA.

[4]  Luis Montesano,et al.  Towards an Intelligent Wheelchair System for Users With Cerebral Palsy , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[5]  Fiona Nicholson.  Handling the Young Child with Cerebral Palsy at Home , 1999 .

[6]  Jan Furumasu,et al.  Relevance of the Pediatric Powered Wheelchair Screening Test for children with cerebral palsy. , 2004, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[7]  Shirley G Fitzgerald,et al.  Tips and falls during electric-powered wheelchair driving: effects of seatbelt use, legrests, and driving speed. , 2003, Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

[8]  Stanley Paul,et al.  Pocketguide to Assessment in Occupational Therapy , 2003 .

[9]  P J Holliday,et al.  Understanding and measuring powered wheelchair mobility and manoeuvrability. Part I. Reach in confined spaces , 2005, Disability and rehabilitation.

[10]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  A Methodology for Creating Intelligent Wheelchair Users' Profiles , 2012, ICAART.

[11]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  Concept and Design of the Intellwheels Platform for Developing Intelligent Wheelchairs , 2009 .

[12]  Rodrigo A. M. Braga,et al.  Shared control for obstacle avoidance in intelligent wheelchairs , 2010, 2010 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics.

[13]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  Patient Classification and Automatic Configuration of an Intelligent Wheelchair , 2012, ICAART.

[14]  M. Hamel,et al.  Analysis of movement to develop a virtual reality powered-wheelchair simulator , 2008, 2008 Virtual Rehabilitation.

[15]  Albert M. Cook,et al.  Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practice , 1995 .

[16]  Stephen E Ryan,et al.  Reliability of the family impact of assistive technology scale for families of young children with cerebral palsy. , 2007, Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

[17]  C S Harrison,et al.  Enhancement of a Virtual Reality Wheelchair Simulator to Include Qualitative and Quantitative Performance Metrics , 2010, Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNA.

[18]  M Bottos,et al.  Powered wheelchairs and independence in young children with tetraplegia. , 2001, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[19]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  Knowledge Discovery and Multimodal Inputs for Driving an Intelligent Wheelchair , 2011, Int. J. Knowl. Discov. Bioinform..

[20]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  IntellWheels MMI: A Flexible Interface for an Intelligent Wheelchair , 2009, RoboCup.

[21]  Lisbeth Nilsson,et al.  Driving to learn: a new concept for training children with profound cognitive disabilities in a powered wheelchair. , 2003, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[22]  Jane Schofield.  Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Manual for Therapists, Parents and Community Workers , 2005 .

[23]  Sara L Cox,et al.  Development and evaluation of a virtual reality based training system for disabled children , 1998 .

[24]  J. B. Brooke,et al.  SUS: A 'Quick and Dirty' Usability Scale , 1996 .

[25]  R. Simpson.  Smart wheelchairs: A literature review. , 2005, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[26]  L. May,et al.  Mothers' Perceptions of Their Children's Use of Powered Mobility , 2004, Physical & occupational therapy in pediatrics.

[27]  Alexandre Abellard,et al.  Electric Wheelchair Navigation Simulators: why, when, how? , 2010 .

[28]  P. Weiss,et al.  Use of a computer simulator for training children with disabilities in the operation of a powered wheelchair. , 1998, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.