John Audie D. Cabrera, Terence John C. Lampasa, Edgardo T. Severino Jr. (February 2009)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
This study implemented the creation of a prototype wheelchair that has the capabilities of pre-programmed routing and obstacle avoidance. The prototype use of the Lego Mindstorms Robolab kit. Lego bricks and other assorted Lego parts compose mainly the prototype body and the remote control. The RCX, the central processing unit of the prototype, serves as the “brain” of the prototype and it is where the programs are downloaded to. The prototype’s program has two interchangeable modes, automatic and manual. The manual makes of the remote control, in which the user moves the prototype through manual means via the remote control. The automatic mode makes use of infrared proximity detection, which is the main concept behind the obstacle avoidance capability of the prototype. In this mode, the user can just choose a destination from the 3 layouts programmed to the RCX of the prototype. The user makes use of the remote control’s touch sensor array to choose the desired location. This touch sensor array also serves as the directional pad of the remote control during manual mode. This study resulted in the development of a prototype wheelchair capable of routing through a pre-programmed path with a built in obstacle avoidance function. Further th program for the prototype showed no bugs or errors. The prototype may serve as a basis for an actually programmed wheelchair.