Power Wheelchair Controller Hacking

[Nelson]

Has anyone here tried this? I'd like to find some information on how
to do it, schematics, etc. They all seem to be proprietary and I can't
find any documentation. Ideally, I'd like to interface the wheelchair
to something like an iPad.

--
Nelson

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 1 Jul 2011 08:19:46 -0400, Nelson <nelson@nowhere.com> wrote:

Has anyone here tried this? I'd like to find some information on how
to do it, schematics, etc. They all seem to be proprietary and I can't
find any documentation.

This patent application includes a detailed controller schematic.
<http://www.patsnap.com/patents/view/US6674256.html>
<http://www.google.com/patents?id=H8kCAAAAEBAJ>
There may be others.

Ideally, I'd like to interface the wheelchair
to something like an iPad.

Start with either the various robotics forums, or controller interface
forums:
<http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=hardware>
<http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1265918811>
<http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1229539904/all>
etc... Search for "wheelchair".

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Nelson]

On Fri, 1 Jul 2011 10:58:06 -0400, Jeff Liebermann wrote
(in article <1knr07pp0i53ra1bvrifbfqrhsctbjsnap@4ax.com&gt:

On Fri, 1 Jul 2011 08:19:46 -0400, Nelson <nelson@nowhere.com> wrote:

Has anyone here tried this? I'd like to find some information on how
to do it, schematics, etc. They all seem to be proprietary and I can't
find any documentation.

This patent application includes a detailed controller schematic.
http://www.patsnap.com/patents/view/US6674256.html
http://www.google.com/patents?id=H8kCAAAAEBAJ
There may be others.

Ideally, I'd like to interface the wheelchair
to something like an iPad.

Start with either the various robotics forums, or controller interface
forums:
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=hardware
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1265918811
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1229539904/all
etc... Search for "wheelchair".

Thanks, Jeff. That's really helpful.

--
Nelson

 

[Sjouke Burry]

Nelson wrote:

Has anyone here tried this? I'd like to find some information on how
to do it, schematics, etc. They all seem to be proprietary and I can't
find any documentation. Ideally, I'd like to interface the wheelchair
to something like an iPad.

I interfaced one to a remote control for modelplanes.

(the receiver part).
The transmitter was either used as is, or as interface
to a controlling computer.

Alas, that was about 6 years ago, and i dont work there anymore.
What i did(from memory), since the joystick was analog 4 quadrant,
is to translate the control voltages from the receiver units to
the joystick connection wires.
Worked like a charm.

End result: a remote controlled snoop vehicle with stereo camera view,
and stereo microphone, with camera/mic direction control.
We used an 8 channel plane controller, and some video capable small
transmitters.

 

[Sjouke Burry]

Nelson wrote:

Has anyone here tried this? I'd like to find some information on how
to do it, schematics, etc. They all seem to be proprietary and I can't
find any documentation. Ideally, I'd like to interface the wheelchair
to something like an iPad.

Oh, I forgot a picture
http://www.intermediair.nl/iol/imgdb/91189
Or article:
http://www.intermediair.nl/artikel//74193/de-opkomst-van-de-militaire-robot.html

 

[Nelson]

On Fri, 1 Jul 2011 13:19:29 -0400, Sjouke Burry wrote
(in article <4e0e01c9$0$6411$703f8584@textnews.kpn.nl&gt:

Nelson wrote:
Has anyone here tried this? I'd like to find some information on how
to do it, schematics, etc. They all seem to be proprietary and I can't
find any documentation. Ideally, I'd like to interface the wheelchair
to something like an iPad.

I interfaced one to a remote control for modelplanes.
(the receiver part).
The transmitter was either used as is, or as interface
to a controlling computer.

Alas, that was about 6 years ago, and i dont work there anymore.
What i did(from memory), since the joystick was analog 4 quadrant,
is to translate the control voltages from the receiver units to
the joystick connection wires.
Worked like a charm.

End result: a remote controlled snoop vehicle with stereo camera view,
and stereo microphone, with camera/mic direction control.
We used an 8 channel plane controller, and some video capable small
transmitters.

How did you get the white shirt on the robot That's an interesting
approach. Don't have to worry about directly controlling the motors
which the manufacturers seem to treat as a black art. I can probably
do the same with the speed control.

I wonder if anyone makes an interface for the iPad or iPod to allow
touch screen inputs to be converted to voltages. Or better a bluetooth
receiver with analog output. I'm not interested in remote control.
I'm just thinking about integrating an iPad into my wife's wheelchair
so she can watch movies, skype, etc. I could also use the built in
camera to monitor her and communicate with her. Since real estate on a
wheelchair is scarce, I'd like to integrate the chair control with the
iPad too. I'd like to be able to replace the controller functionality
completely but it's probably more realistic to just piggyback on it as
you did.

--
Nelson