This project enables quadriplegic patients to navigate a wheelchair by using only their head movement. A prototype of the functionality is implemented and demonstrated using a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and a Rover 5. The current commands the patient can give are moving forward, moving backward, turning left, and turning right. The Rover is also equipped with an ultrasonic sensor which acts as a safety mechanism that stops the Rover and triggers a buzzer in case an obstacle is detected. For this prototype the user can control the rover by sitting infront of the PC and moving their head to control the Rover while viewing the camera feed the Rover is sending to the PC.

The video_pub_py node is running on the PC and computates the action that the user wants to execute and sends this command to n__motor_run_py which is running on the rover. The n__ultrasonic_py node is running on the Rover and publishes to the motor node and the buzzer node. The n__rover_pub_py node sends the video frames from the Rover to the PC rover_frames.

The codes running on the Raspberry Pi

The codes running on the PC

• Sends the patients vitals (heart beat - pulse) to a web interface
• Displays the stream from the Rover and PC
• Shows real-time patient vitals
• Tabulates the vitals received with timestamps
• Shows the messages conveyed by the patient as alerts