A State of the Art About Instrumentation and Control Systems from Body Motion for Electric-Powered Wheelchairs

Instrumentation and control for automatic wheelchairs have diversified with technological developments that include non-invasive built-in sensors to capture body signals. The use of micro-electromechanical sensors (MEMS), tilt sensors, electroencephalographic signals (EEG), electromyographic signals (EMG) and cameras to detect movements of the head and hands have been included in the instrumentation of controllers to operate wheelchairs with the aim of improving the mobility of people with disabilities in lower or upper limbs, or in both regions. The goal of this work is to conduct a detailed review of articles about instrumentation and controllers based on body motion capture for automatic wheelchairs. The articles found develop different types of instrumentation for the safety of the user. Due to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 articles that were published between 2003 and 2019 were analyzed. The controllers that implement head motion capture as well as their electronic instrumentation were given special attention in order to realize future developments. The designs that appeared in some articles demonstrated limitations due to specific user or location requirements, as well as offering solutions to these constraints. In conclusion, the controllers that receive information about body motion are useful for people with the aforementioned disabilities, resulting in greater independence and dexterity in the mobility of the wheelchair.