Is the collaborative wheelchair adapted to cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injury subjects?

Abstract

The collaborative wheelchair assistant (CWA) provides guidance along software-defined paths while the user is in charge of the speed control, including start and stop. Three patients with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and two with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), who had been ruled out for independent mobility, performed experiments with the CWA. While initially no subject was able to move independently, all subjects learned to drive with the CWA in a few sessions. Two subjects became able to drive a normal powered wheelchair. The other three could use the mobility provided by the CWA, while two of them could also use the tools to modify the guide paths. This suggests that the CWA is useful for a range of people with different disabilities.