Life for people with impairments is a bit difficult as compared to the unimpaired. Conventional wheelchairs need an extra person to move it around. Sometimes the person himself pushes the wheels which results in problems of upper body functioning. These dependency and functioning issues can be avoided by an autonomous, smart, IoT based wheelchair that is controlled by the patient’s commands. This smart wheelchair also consists of a in-built remote health monitoring system for consistent health updates. Instead of staying wired to machines in the hospital, comfortable homecare can be availed and health monitoring can also be done. The proposed system is an economic, smart and reliable alternative to other automated wheelchair products in the market.

Features:
• Voice controlled movement
• Joystick controlled movement
• GPS locator to avoid theft
• Inbuilt Remote Health Monitoring system
• Emergency alert to family and relatives in case of danger
• Fall detection mechanism

Design:
Autonomous movement:
This can be facilitated using voice commands or joystick.
Voice commands can be given through an app installed on the patient’s Android device. The mobile and wheelchair can be connected over Bluetooth using the HC05 Bluetooth module and Arduino Uno microcontroller. The voice instructions of the patient can be decoded and sent as input to Arduino and the motor driver moves the wheels accordingly. If the voice command module doesn’t work properly due to noisy surroundings, the joystick can be used to facilitate movement.

GPS module:
This can be used to detect the exact location of the wheelchair in case of theft. Also, when an emergency alert is to be sent to the patient’s caretakers, family and the doctor, exact coordinates of latitudes and longitudes can be obtained to get the required location.

Obstacle Avoidance and Fall Detection mechanism:
This can be done with the help of IR and ultrasonic sensors that are located at the bottom. IR sensors can detect an obstacle up to 10meters. Also, edge avoidance algorithms can be applied for fall detection. It can detect holes, potholes, stairs, etc.

Health Monitoring System
Heart rate, pulse rate, body temperature prove vital for the diagnosis of diseases. These values can be obtained using sensors fitted on the wheelchair. If the values cross a threshold limit, an emergency alert via call and SMS is sent to the doctors, family and the caretakers. Many domestic accidents can be avoided if discovered within a few minutes of the accident. Regular update about current values can be sent via mail to the doctor’s device for regular checkups.

Possible future enhancements:
• The wheelchair can be connected to other wireless devices around the house via Wi-Fi.
• Heartbeat ECG can be displayed on mobile screens.
• Can be improvised to walk autonomously without instructions of the route, e.g. take me to the library (user doesn’t need to know the route, the wheelchair can track it from an internal map)
• Past trajectory recording can be done to get out of tight locations, e.g. bathroom