Author Description

An anti-collision system is needed for powered wheelchairs operated by cognitively and/or sensory impaired residents in long term care units. Such a system must prevent collisions with other vulnerable ambulatory residents who are at a high risk of falling as a result of a wheelchair collision. Due to the severe consequences of falling, this system must be very reliable in detecting unknown objects in known environments. Many object detection techniques in other anti-collision systems do not satisfy this requirement. This study explored the possibility of an alternative method: Laser Line Object Detection (LLOD). The fundamental improvement of LLOD is that it responds to signal absence rather than presence. A pilot LLOD system was designed and the performance was tested. On favourable flooring surfaces, the LLOD system produces a high detection rate with almost all objects, regardless of the size, shape, optical property of surface, or transparency of the object.