In the last four decades, mass market wheelchair has changed little. For all that it has done to improve the quality of people’s lives, most wheelchairs are using the same decades-old technology. Fortunately, today’s 131 million wheelchair users might have the opportunity to experience the power of digital transformation. 

Guru IoT, Korea’s Internet-of-Things products developer, said that it is currently developing the self-driving smart mobility technology based on digital-twin map data. Through this project, the company plans to come up with a self-driving wheelchair for the handicapped. 

Existing self-driving mobility technology uses LiDAR sensors to generate maps in real time. However, Guru IoT’s technology will use digital-twin 3D map data stored on a server to modify sensor data and improve self-driving accuracy. The company claims that the wheelchair can navigate a crowd and physical obstacles while also coming equiped with safety features like vibration and overturn prevention functions that are not available on other electric wheelchairs.  

Guru IoT’s self-driving wheelchair can navigate through a crowd or physical obstacles by reducing speed, avoiding hurdles, and stopping.

In addition, it is equipped with safety features such as vibration and overturn prevention functions that are not available in any other electric wheelchairs. For example, the self-driving robot wheelchair can maintain a constant speed on a steep slope by allowing the driver to pull it with two hands. If the rider loses the grip, the wheelchair stops by itself. 

Moreover the self-driving wheelchair has enhanced its safety by putting in features such as safety distance maintenance, driving mode shifting depending on the situation, emergency braking, and malfunction alarm, in accordance with self-driving safety standards as well as route monitoring through data synchronized with the server. 

Song Su-han, president of Guru IoT and principal of the development project, said, “As of the end of 2020, the number of the handicapped who need someone’s assistance is more than 1.5 million. The manual wheelchair is difficult to use for those with weak muscle power or children below a certain height. The electric wheelchair is not easy to control for the mentally handicapped.” 

“The newly developed self-driving wheelchair can solve these problems so that anyone with mobility handicaps can use it conveniently. Once we develop the product, we will provide it to rehab facilities, public establishments, and elderly homes,” added. 

Guru IoT’s wheelchair supports functions such as digital twin, artificial intelligence-based self-driving, app reservation, and pre-appointment for mass transit use. 

For more information, visit Guru IoT website: https://www.guruiot.com/ 

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