Otherwise 0 (17)
This value was set for a range of adjacent bearings
proportional to
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 − 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (18)
Closer obstacles occupied a larger space in the
view. The maximum visible distance was set to 10m
in the simulation. The DCPA was increased
considerably for head-on cases, when using the
Proximity-Voter. The DCPA was lower when using
the Proximity-Voter rather than without it. The
obstacle avoidance system increased the DCPA when
obstacles were detected. A problem was experienced
with the Voter based system that has been described
in (Larson et al, 2007). It occasionally fluctuated
between two possible choices, and this could have led
to near collisions. This oscillatory behaviour was
occasionally observed. In all cases the wheelchair
avoided obstacles.
8 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE
WORK
Some potential problems became apparent with the
Higher-Level Route Planning algorithm. A
wheelchair user could constantly override the system,
and that affected calculated speeds towards
waypoints. Additionally, when the collision
avoidance calculation was performed for a long route,
the uncertainty box could become large.
The narrow field of view of the imager simplified
calculations but with a limitation. The algorithm
performed significantly worse when only the
currently visible information was used and detected
obstacle bearings were not stored. The calculations
needed input from the ultrasonic systems to work
properly. The wheelchair would attempt to return to
joystick controls immediately after losing sight of an
obstacle, leading to smaller DCPAs. There would be
cases where a collision could occur since the
wheelchair was unable to detect an obstacle due to the
narrow field of view. Another case could also happen
when the wheelchair was unable to detect an obstacle
in time to perform an appropriate maneuver. An
option that would improve matters slightly would be
to have a camera with a pan option that could cover a
larger field of view. LIDAR and / or Radar might be
another option.
The system always steered away from obstacles
and worked well for wheelchairs approaching from
ahead. More image processing tests are necessary in
different weather and lighting conditions.
The voter-based system worked well in collision
avoidance. The system occasionally switched
between two possible choices, potentially leading to
a near collision. To mitigate for this, Maneuver-Voter
could be modified. Currently Maneuver-Voter
increases votes slightly around the current heading to
avoid unnecessary maneuvering. An alternative could
be to increase votes around the previous selected
course as that might increase the chance that a
selected maneuver would be performed. Further
work will include the system being evaluated in
clinical trials.
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