Voice Assistant and Touch Screen Operated Intelligent Wheelchair for Physically Challenged People

Due to age, mishaps, or ailments, many people are suffering from temporary or permanent physical disabilities. They face a lot of difficulties in their day to day body movements. Here, Wheelchair is the mostly used assisting device for handicapped people. The initial Wheelchair (Mechanical) had some limitations as it required another person to operate. As a result, a smart Wheelchair was invented which can be managed by the patients independently. The smart Wheelchair has also provided a way to lead a more active life for impaired people. In this paper, we have proposed an Internet of Things based Intelligent Wheelchair for the physically challenged people with weak limbs and joints. The Wheelchair can be operated using the touch screen or smart voice assistants e.g. Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and so on. The distinguishing feature of the wheelchair is that it can operate in both online and offline mode as well as it can send periodical and emergency notification of current and critical condition of the patients. Numerical results show the appropriate efficiency of controlling the Wheelchair using touch screen or smart voice assistants for both online and offline environments.