Gesture controlled wheel chair and electrical appliances

A gesture controlled wheel chair is designed for physically disabled and elderly people which operates by simple hand movements. The movements of hands in three dimensions are predefined. These movements are recognized by the sensors placed inside a device worn on hand. The wheel chair moves forward, backward, right, left and stops according to the information of the hand gesture received from the sensors. The electrical appliances with in a room can also be controlled wirelessly by the hand gestures of the user. The appliances can be tuned ON and OFF by hand movements while sitting on the chair up to a maximum distance of 50 m. The chair is able to carry a maximum weight of 80 kg and can facilitate a physically disabled person to move independently and with less effort.

A small device is worn on hand fitted with gyroscope and acceleration sensors. The information of the movement of hand in three axes (x, y and z) is received through acceleration sensors and send to the Arduino UNO microcontroller board. The controller operates the relay board attached to the motors of the wheel chair. The wheels of the chair move left, right, forward and backward according to the gesture commands. For the electrical appliances control, the microcontroller forwards the hand gesture information wirelessly, via an RF transceiver, to the module which controls electrical devices. The microcontroller on the module receives the information and turns the appliances ON and OFF accordingly.

The smart wheel chair can be used by physically disabled and elderly people in homes, hospitals, airports and old age homes. It will facilitate them to move around independently in any direction without being pushed by another individual. In addition, such people can also control and operate the electrical appliances with in a room just by their hand movements.