Electronic Wheelchair Having Voice-Recognition Operating System

• US 20180036185A1
• Filed: 01/22/2016
• Published: 02/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: In Suk Han
• Original Assignee: In Suk Han
• Inventors: Han, In Suk
• Granted Patent: US 11,033,443 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/18 by patient's head, eyes, facial muscles or voice
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/20 Displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/32 for force
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/024 having particular operating means
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/04 motor-driven A61G5/06 takes precedence; motor-operated rests A61G5/12; for vehicles with handlebars, equipped with three or more wheels B62K5/003, B62K5/023
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/046 at least three driven wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/06 with obstacle mounting facilities, e.g. for climbing stairs, kerbs or steps
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/068 with extensible supports pushing upwards, e.g. telescopic legs
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/0866 folding down backrest, e.g. where the backrest folds down onto the seat support
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/10 Parts, details or accessories
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/1059 adjusting the height of the seat
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/1067 adjusting the backrest relative to the seat portion
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/127 for lower legs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/015 Input arrangements based on nervous system activity detection, e.g. brain waves [EEG] detection, electromyograms [EMG] detection, electrodermal response detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair having a voice recognition drive system comprising: a traveling apparatus main body unit which has a plurality of wheels in a lower end thereof; a seating unit which is installed in an upper end of the traveling apparatus main body unit so as to be able to be lifted; an auxiliary robot leg unit which is able to be inserted into and protrude from the traveling apparatus main body unit, and which includes multi-joint driven by an external force; and a voice recognition drive unit which extracts a preset command from an externally input voice, and which drives the plurality of wheels, lifts the seating unit, and drives the auxiliary robot leg unit.

Claims

1. An electric wheelchair having a voice recognition drive system, the electric wheelchair comprising:

a traveling apparatus main body unit which has a plurality of wheels in a lower end thereof;

a seating unit which is installed in an upper end of the traveling apparatus main body unit so as to be able to be lifted;

an auxiliary robot leg unit which is able to be inserted into and protrude from the traveling apparatus main body unit, and which includes multi-joint driven by an external force; and

a voice recognition drive unit which extracts a preset command from an externally input voice, and which drives the plurality of wheels, lifts the seating unit, and drives the auxiliary robot leg unit.

2. The electric wheelchair of claim 1, wherein the voice recognition drive unit comprises:

a voice input unit which is installed in the seating unit and which receives a voice from outside;

a travel drive unit which controls traveling of the plurality of wheels;

a lifting drive unit which controls lifting of the seating unit;

a robot drive unit which controls driving of the auxiliary robot leg; and

a controller which is provided with preset commands for controlling the driving of the plurality of wheels, the lifting of the seating unit, and the driving of the auxiliary robot leg, and which extracts the commands from a voice input through the voice input unit, and controls driving of the travel drive unit, the lifting drive unit, or the robot drive unit corresponding to the extracted command.

3. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, wherein the lifting drive unit comprises:

a lifting member which connects the traveling apparatus main body unit and a lower end of the seating unit and which has a length adjusted vertically by external power; and

a drive cylinder which receives a driving signal from the controller, and controls an adjusting operation of a length of the lifting member.

4. The electric wheelchair of claim 3, wherein the lifting member comprises a plurality of lifting ribs hingedly connected to be folded so as to intersect with each other, wherein, among the plurality of lifting ribs, a first roller is provided in a lower end of a pair of lowermost lifting ribs respectively, a second roller is provided in an upper end of a pair of uppermost lifting ribs respectively, wherein a first rail on which the respective first rollers can roll is formed in the traveling apparatus main body unit, wherein a second rail on which the respective second rollers can roll is formed in a lower end of the seating unit;

and

wherein the drive cylinder comprises a cylinder body having a shaft which is extended and contracted in a horizontal direction in response to a drive signal from the controller, wherein the shaft is connected to a center of rotation of one of the respective first rollers and another roller is located in a fixed position on the first rail.

5. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, wherein the auxiliary robot leg unit comprises a plurality of auxiliary robot legs arranged in a plurality of positions on both sides of the traveling apparatus main body unit,

wherein each of the plurality of auxiliary robot legs comprises:

a plurality of unit joints; and

a plurality of rotation motors which connect the plurality of unit joints to be rotated, and which are driven in response to a driving signal from the robot drive unit.

6. The electric wheelchair of claim 5, wherein holes for allowing the plurality of auxiliary robot legs to be inserted and withdrawn are formed in a plurality of positions on both sides of the traveling apparatus main body unit, and wherein an accommodation space for receiving the plurality of auxiliary robot legs inserted through the holes is formed in an interior of the traveling apparatus main body unit, and

wherein, in the accommodation space, a sliding drive unit which slides the plurality of auxiliary robot legs so that the plurality of auxiliary robot legs can be inserted into the accommodation space or withdrawn to an external in response to a control signal from the controller is installed.

7. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, wherein the seating unit is connected to the lifting drive unit, and comprises:

a seat portion;

a backrest portion which is hingedly connected to an end of the seat portion so as to be foldable;

a handgrip portion which is hingedly connected to both sides of the seat portion so as to be foldable; and

a leg rest portion which is hingedly connected to a front end of the seat portion so as to be foldable,

wherein the seating unit is formed in a rectangular box shape when the backrest portion and the leg rest portion are folded.

8. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, wherein the seating unit is provided with a light collecting plate for collecting sunlight, and

wherein a battery for converting heat energy collected by the light collecting plate into electric energy for driving the voice recognition drive unit and storing the electrical energy is installed in the traveling apparatus main body unit.

9. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, wherein the seating unit is provided with a GPS module for receiving position information via a satellite and transmitting the received position information to the controller, and

a weight sensor for sensing a weight of a user when the user is seated and transmitting the sensed weight to the controller and a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature and transmitting the sensed temperature to the controller are installed in a plurality of positions of the seating unit.

10. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, wherein the traveling apparatus main body unit comprises:

a lower main body portion having a disc shape which is provided with a rotator having a rotation shaft rotated in response to a drive signal from the controller, and which is provided with a plurality of wheels; and

an upper main body portion having a disc shape which is disposed in an upper end of the lower main body portion, and connected to the rotation shaft and rotates, and which is provided with the auxiliary robot leg unit.

11. The electric wheelchair of claim 2, further comprising an electroencephalogram (EEG) control driver,

wherein the EEG control drive unit comprises:

a selection mode which is connected to the controller, and which selects to use one of the voice recognition drive unit and the EEG control driver; and

an EEG recognition unit which recognizes EEG from a head of a user and transmits the recognized EEG to the controller,

wherein information related to a gamma wave, a beta wave, an alpha wave, a theta wave, and a delta wave is previously set in the controller, and the controller extracts a ratio of the gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves from the recognized EEG, and controls the travel drive unit, the lifting drive unit, and the robot drive unit depending on the extracted ratio, and

wherein the ratio of the gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves is previously set in the controller with respect to driving of the travel drive unit, the lifting drive unit, and the robot drive unit.