Electric motor based head controller for power wheelchairs with joy stick input

Abstract

In this paper, a design of a head controller and an adapting unit for interfacing with a power wheelchair is presented. The proposed controller is based on a servo mechanism of stepper motors, which provide motion in the x- and y-axis to actuate a modified joystick-controlled power wheelchair. The technical design aspects of the proposed head controller, adapting unit as well as the microcontroller implementation are discussed.