JPH06225910A - Motor-driven wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To drive easily a motor-driven wheelchair by performing voice inputting. CONSTITUTION:When a command for operation is given by a voice through a microphone 30, a voice recognition apparatus 32 recognizes the voice to output the recognized command for operation to the second controller 40. Following the command for operation, the second controller 40 controls motors 22 and 24 through the motor drivers 28 and 29 to perform a required operation by driving or stopping the rear wheel.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair, and more particularly to an electric wheelchair that enables even a person who has a difficulty in operating a joystick to drive it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electric power that enables people who have difficulty walking due to aging or illness to move around in a hospital, move in a garden, or go out to the city to shop without assistance from others. I have a wheelchair. FIG. 6 shows the appearance of a conventional electric wheelchair, and FIG. 7 shows the electrical configuration. The left and right front wheels 10 and 12 have small diameters and are free. The left and right rear wheels 14 and 16 have large diameters and are independently rotated by motors (DC motors) 22 and 24 via reduction gears BOX 18 and 20, respectively. The joystick 26 is installed in front of the right armrest, and when the user operates the joystick 22 by hand, the controller 27 installed at the bottom of the seat generates left and right motor control signals (voltage) corresponding to the operation, The drivers 28 and 29 are voltage-
The electric current is converted to drive the motors 22 and 24 independently.

The joystick 26 can be tilted forward, backward, leftward, rightward, diagonally front left, diagonally right front, diagonally rear left, diagonally right rear, and the like in all directions of 360 degrees. The left-right direction (X direction) and the front-back direction (Y
Direction) and X signal (voltage) and Y proportional to each tilt angle component
Generates a signal (voltage). FIG. 8 shows an example of the relationship between the tilt angle component and the output characteristic. Controller 27 uses X signal and Y
The signals are converted into left and right motor control signals and output. At this time, the operation direction of the joystick 26 and the operation direction of the electric wheelchair are made to coincide with each other, and the speed is proportional to the magnitude of the operation inclination angle based on the vertical direction. However, for safety, the maximum speed during reverse travel is set to be lower than the maximum speed during forward travel. Further, the joystick 26 treats a certain angle range from the vertical direction as a dead zone for the home position, sets the motor control signal as a stop voltage, and sets the electric wheelchair in a stopped state.

For example, assuming that the relationship between the motor control signal and the rotation speed of the motor is as shown in FIG. 9, when the joystick 26 is tilted forward (backward), the left and right motor control signals have the same + polarity (-polarity). Then, the left and right motors 22 and 24 rotate normally at the same speed, and the electric wheelchair moves forward (backward). Increasing the angle at which the joystick 26 is tilted increases the motor control signal and increases the speed.
When the joystick 26 is tilted to the left (right), the right (left) motor control signal becomes a positive polarity voltage, and the left (right) motor control signal becomes a stop voltage (= 0), and the right (left) Only the motor rotates forward, and the electric wheelchair rotates left (right) on the spot (spin turn). When the joystick 26 is tilted to the left diagonally forward (diagonally rightward), the right (left) motor control signal becomes a + polarity voltage, and the left (right) motor control signal is smaller than the right (left) side and has a + polarity voltage. Then, the electric wheelchair turns left (right) while moving forward. When the joystick 26 is tilted to the left obliquely rearward (right obliquely rearward), the right (left) motor control signal becomes a negative polarity voltage, and the left (right) motor control signal is smaller than the right (left) side negative polarity voltage. And
The electric wheelchair turns left (right) while moving backward. When the operation of the joystick 26 is stopped, the return spring automatically returns to the home position, the left and right motor control signals become zero, and the electric wheelchair stops.

As described above, according to the electric wheelchair, by operating the joystick 26, it becomes possible to move to the place desired by the user without the help of the assistant. There is also an electric wheelchair in which the maximum speed can be changed stepwise by switching the speed changeover switch.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the operation of the joystick 26 is indispensable for driving an electric wheelchair, it is difficult for a person who has a hand movement problem due to muscular dystrophy or stroke to drive. Then, there was an inconvenience that it could not be used without an assistant.
Further, in recent years, it has been difficult to secure an assistant, and even if it is possible, it is not always possible to go to a desired place due to a feeling of hesitation or time constraints.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric wheelchair that can be easily driven even by a person with a hand movement difficulty.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in the present invention, in an electric wheelchair equipped with a motor for driving wheels, a microphone for voice input and a voice recognition for recognizing an operation command input by voice from the microphone. Means and control means for controlling the motor according to the operation command recognized by the voice recognition means.

[0009]

Operation: The operation command input by voice from the microphone is recognized by voice, and the motor is controlled according to the recognized operation command. As a result, even if the hand is inconvenient, the user can easily drive the electric wheelchair by voice, so that he / she can go to a desired place without the help of an assistant.

The voice recognition means is provided with a registration means for registering a voice of a specific speaker in advance, and when recognizing an operation command input by a microphone, only the voice registered in the registration means is targeted. To do. As a result, it is possible to prevent the electric wheelchair from performing an unexpected operation of the user due to the voice of another person while the electric wheelchair is being used, or to prevent the other person from arbitrarily using the electric wheelchair.

In an electric wheelchair equipped with a motor for driving wheels and a joystick for driving operation, a microphone for voice input, a voice recognition means for recognizing a motion command input by the microphone, and a joystick are in operation. When it is determined that the joystick is being operated by the monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the joystick is being operated, a motor control signal corresponding to the operation of the joystick is generated and motor control is performed based on the signal, and the joystick is not operating. When the determination is made, a control means for generating a motor control signal according to the operation command recognized by the voice recognition means and controlling the motor based on the signal is provided, and while the joystick is not operated, voice input is performed. When the joystick is operated by controlling the motor, the motor is operated according to the operation of the joystick. Please is carried out. With this, the electric wheelchair can be driven by either voice input or joystick operation, so that the best driving method can be selected according to the state at that time.

From the time the joystick is judged to be in the non-operation state until the operation command is recognized by the voice recognition means,
The control means controls the stop of the motor. As a result, even if the voice recognition does not work while driving due to noise in the surroundings, it can be stopped by pushing the joystick, and danger can be easily avoided.

When there is a voice input which is difficult for the voice recognition means to recognize as an operation command through the microphone, the control means controls the stop of the motor. As a result, when the user feels dangerous and screams, or when a fall or collision occurs in the surroundings, the electric wheelchair stops, so that the danger can be avoided in advance.

[0014]

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
The same components as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals (however, the controller in FIG. 7 is the first controller in FIG. 1. In the figure, 30 is a microphone through which the user inputs a voice, Reference numeral 32 denotes a voice recognition device that performs voice registration of a user and voice recognition of an operation command input when driving an electric wheelchair. Here, forward movement, backward movement, stop, left turn,
The voice input for each right turn operation command is "Recommendation",
Simple words such as "back", "to rare", "hidari", "migi", etc. shall be used. 32a is within a certain time length range where the front and back are silently sandwiched (here, as an example, 150 m
s or more and 2s or less), a cutout unit that cuts out and outputs a voice input, and an analysis / feature extraction unit that performs voice analysis and feature extraction on the output of the cutout unit.
Reference numeral 32c is a word dictionary that stores characteristic parameters of words for each operation command, and 32d is a characteristic parameter output from the analysis / feature extraction unit when there is a voice input in the recognition mode (when output from the cutout unit). Is a collating unit that collates with a word dictionary to determine and output an operation command. Matching unit 3
As a result of the collation, 2d outputs a stop command when the operation command cannot be confirmed.

As shown in FIG. 2, an operation unit 34 is a mode change switch 36 for switching the voice recognition apparatus between a registration mode and a recognition mode, forward, backward, stop and left turn for designating an operation command for voice registration in the registration mode. , Right turn designated switches (push switches) 38a to 38e and the like. When the user performs voice registration, after switching the mode changeover switch 36 to the registration mode side, first, the forward designation switch 38a is pressed, and the user speaks into the microphone 30, for example, "recommendation". Then microphone 30
The voice input from the cutout unit 32a of the voice recognition device 32
After being cut out by, the analysis / feature extraction unit 32b performs analysis and feature extraction. Then, it is stored in the word dictionary 32c as a characteristic parameter corresponding to the forward movement command. Then, when the backward designation switch 38b is pressed to say "back", the characteristic parameter is stored in the word dictionary 32c as the characteristic parameter corresponding to the backward movement command. Similarly, by speaking "stop" for stop, "hidari" for left turn, and "Migi" for right turn, the characteristic parameters of each word are written in the word dictionary 32c as motion commands for stop, left turn, and right turn. It is associated and registered (see FIG. 3).

The registered voice for each operation command may be another word. For example, instead of "recommended" for forward movement, "front", "ike", "go", etc. for backward movement. Instead of "back" instead of "back", "sagare", etc. instead of "to rare" for stop, "teishi", "stop", etc. Alternatively, “left” or the like may be used, and “right” or the like may be used instead of “Migi” for a right turn. Also, a plurality of words may be registered for one operation command.

When the user drives an electric wheelchair, after the voice registration described above, the mode changeover switch 3
6 may be switched to the recognition mode side. Then, when there is a voice input within a certain time length range where there is no sound before and after through the microphone 30, the cutout unit 32a cuts out the voice and outputs it to the analysis / feature extraction unit 32b. Analysis and feature extraction are performed, and feature parameters are output to the matching unit 32d. The collating unit 32d that has input the characteristic parameters collates with the characteristic parameters stored in the word dictionary 32c for each operation command, and if there is a match, outputs a corresponding operation command. For example, when the user's voice is registered as "recommended" in advance for forward movement,
When the user inputs "Recommend" by voice into the microphone 30, the matching unit 32d outputs a forward command.

If it is the voice of another person, the user screams, noise in the surroundings, etc., the analysis / feature extraction unit 32b
If there is no match in the word dictionary 32c with the characteristic parameter output from the collating unit 32d, the collating unit 32d outputs a stop command. However, when the ambient noise or the like continues for 2 seconds or more, the cutout unit 32a does not cut out the voice,
The collating unit 32d does not output an operation command (stop command).
This is because when the microphone input continues for 2 seconds or more, there is no suddenness and it is considered that the risk is low. When voice-registering a word for each operation command in the word dictionary 32c, for example, as the user moves forward, the user may input "recommendation" by voice several times to register the characteristic parameters separately for each time, or to perform collation. If fuzzy inference is used for the matching process in the unit 32d, it is possible to perform highly accurate voice recognition.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a second controller which creates and outputs a motor control signal (voltage) for each of the motors 22 and 24 in accordance with the operation command recognized by the voice recognition device 30.
When the operation command is input from the voice recognition device 30, the second controller 40 outputs the motor control signal according to the operation command when it is necessary to change the state of the motor control signal that has been output until then. .

42 is the output of the joystick 26
A monitoring unit that monitors whether or not the joystick 26 is in the home position, in other words, whether or not the joystick 26 is in operation, 44 and 46 are outputs of the first controller 27 and the second controller 40 based on the outputs of the monitoring units. Is a switching switch for switching between and outputting to the drivers 28 and 29. The changeover switches 44 and 46 are used for the monitoring unit 4
When it is determined in 2 that the joystick 27 is in the non-operation state, it is switched to the second controller 40 side, and when it is determined that the joystick 26 is in the operation state (home position state), the first controller Switch to the 27 side. The output of the monitoring unit 42 is also output to the second controller 40, and the second controller 40 sets the left and right motor control signals to zero at the same time when the joystick 26 is being operated. The other components are constructed in exactly the same way as the conventional example shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the second controller 40, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the output of the second controller 40. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to these figures. Note that the voice registration for each operation command of the user has been completed, and the mode changeover switch 36 of the operation unit 34 has been completed.
Is switched to the recognition mode.

[0022]Driving with a joystick  If the user is operating the joystick 26,
The stick 26 is in a position other than the home position
When it is determined that the monitoring unit 42 is operating the joystick,
The changeover switches 44 and 46 to the first controller 2
Cut back to side 7. As a result, the motors 22 and 24
Is placed under the control of the first controller 27,
Follow the operation of the joystick 26 in exactly the same way as before.
An electric wheelchair runs.

[0023]Driving by voice input  When the user does not operate the joystick 26, the
The joystick 26 returns to the home position and monitors
The part 42 judges that the joystick is not operated, and switches
Switch 44, 46 to the second controller 40 side
Send it back. As a result, the motors 22 and 24 are connected to the second controller.
Since it is placed under the control of the controller 40,
Wheelchair runs.

(1) Forward When the user speaks "recommend" into the microphone 30 to move the electric wheelchair forward, a forward command, which is a motion command corresponding to the voice recognition by the voice recognition device 32, is given by the second controller. 40 is output. The second controller 40 is
Except when the vehicle has moved forward until then, both the left and right motor control signals are output by changing the same constant voltage state with + polarity to a continuous voltage (steps 101 to 104). When the motor control signal is output to the drivers 28 and 29, the motors 22 and 24 rotate normally at the same speed, and the electric wheelchair moves forward (straight ahead). The manner in which the motor control voltage changes when the stopped state changes to the forward state is shown by the solid line in FIG. However,
Until then, when performing the reverse, reverse left turn, reverse right turn, and spin turn operations, the second controller 40 once
After stopping the electric wheelchair by setting the left and right motor control signals to zero, the motorized wheelchair is started up to a constant voltage with the same positive polarity and moved forward.

(2) Retraction When the user speaks "behind" into the microphone 30 in order to move the electric wheelchair backward, the voice recognition device 32 recognizes the voice and the corresponding backward movement command is issued. It is output to the controller 40. The second controller 40 is
Except for the case where the motor control signals have been moved backward until then, both the left and right motor control signals are changed to the same constant voltage state with negative polarity and output (steps 101 to 104). When the motor control signal is output to the drivers 28 and 29, the motors 22 and 24 rotate in reverse at the same speed, and the electric wheelchair moves backward (goes straight). A change in the motor control voltage when the stop state is changed to the reverse state is shown by a broken line in FIG. However,
Until then, while traveling forward, turning left forward, turning right forward, and spinning, the second controller 40 once
After stopping the electric wheelchair by setting the right and left motor control signals to zero, the electric wheelchair is started up to a constant voltage with the same negative polarity and moved backward. The backward movement may be continued for a certain time after the backward instruction is input, and after the elapse of the certain time, both the left and right motor control signals may be set to zero and automatically stopped.

(3) Spin Turn When the user wants to spin turn the electric wheelchair to the left (right) from the stopped state, when the user speaks into the microphone "Hidari", the voice recognition device 32 recognizes the voice and responds. A left turn command, which is a motion command, is output to the second controller 40. When the second controller 40 inputs a left turn command,
If it was stopped until then (steps 101, 1)
(YES in 02 and 103), in the processing of step 104, the right (left) motor control signal is raised to a constant voltage of + polarity, and the left (right) motor control signal is-polarity and the magnitude is right (left). Start up to a smaller constant voltage. As a result, the right (left) motor 24 (22) rotates in the forward direction, and the left (right)
Since the motor 22 (24) of is rotated in the reverse direction, the electric wheelchair spin-turns to the left (right). In addition, the spine turn is
It may be continued until a stop command to be described later is issued, and after continuing for a time corresponding to 180 °,
Both the left and right motor control signals may be set to zero to automatically stop.

(4) Forward left turn (forward right turn) If you want to make a left turn (right turn) while moving the electric wheelchair forward,
When the user speaks into the microphone, “Hidari”, the voice recognition device 32 recognizes the voice and outputs a left turn command, which is a corresponding motion command, to the second controller 40. If the second controller 40 has been in the forward traveling state and the forward traveling right turn (forward traveling left turn) state until then (steps 101, 102, 1)
(YES in 03), in the process of step 104, the left (right) motor control signal is + polarity and the magnitude is smaller than the right (left) while the right (left) motor control signal is a constant voltage of + polarity. Fall to a certain voltage. As a result,
The right (left) motor 24 (22) rotates forward relatively quickly,
Since the left (right) motor 22 (24) rotates forward relatively slowly, the electric wheelchair turns left while moving forward (turns right while moving forward).

(5) Reverse left turn (reverse right turn) While moving the electric wheelchair backward, turn the electric wheelchair left (right turn)
If the user wants to do so, when the user speaks into the microphone “Hidari”, the voice recognition device 32 performs voice recognition and outputs a left turn command, which is a corresponding operation command, to the second controller 40. If the second controller 40 has been in the reverse state and the reverse right turn (reverse left turn) state until then (step 10
(YES at 1, 102, 103), in the process of step 104, the left (right) motor control signal is set to the negative polarity and the magnitude is set to the right (while the right (left) motor control signal is kept at a constant voltage of negative polarity. Left) Lower to a smaller constant voltage. As a result, the motor 24 (22) on the right (left) reverses relatively quickly and the motor 22 (24) on the left (right) reverses relatively slowly, so that the electric wheelchair moves backward while turning left (backward). Turn right).

(6) Normal stop When the user wants to stop the electric wheelchair while it is in motion, when the user speaks into the microphone, "voice", the voice recognition device 32
The left turn command, which is the corresponding motion command recognized by the voice recognition, is output to the second controller 40. Second controller 4
A value of 0 causes the left and right motor control signals to fall to zero except when the motor has been stopped until then.
Stop rotation of 4 and stop the electric wheelchair (Step 1
01-104).

(7) Emergency stop During driving by voice recognition, a dangerous situation is imminent and the user screams, or an object falls or collides with the surroundings, and the microphone 30 operates within a certain period of time. When there is a voice input other than the command, the matching unit 32d determines that the word dictionary 3 matches the feature parameter input from the analysis / feature extraction unit 32b.
Since it does not exist in 2c, a stop command is output (steps 101 to 104). Therefore, if the electric wheelchair is running until then, it will automatically stop, and the occurrence of an accident can be avoided. Even if there is no voice input, if the user pushes the joystick 26 and temporarily removes it from the home position, the monitoring unit 42
Judges that the joystick 26 has been operated, switches the changeover switches 42, 44 to the first controller 27 side, and makes the left and right motor control signals output from the second controller 40 both zero. The second
When the motor control signal output of the controller 40 is zero,
Next, the operation is continued until an operation command is input from the voice recognition device 32 (steps 101 and 105). When the joystick 26 returns to the home position, the left and right motor control signals output from the first controller 27 become zero, and the changeover switches 42 and 44 are moved to the second controller 4.
Although it is switched to the 0 side, the electric wheelchair is automatically stopped because both outputs of the second controller 40 are zero. As a result, even if the voice recognition device 32 malfunctions, the electric wheelchair can be easily brought to an emergency stop and an accident can be avoided.

In the above embodiment, the speed of the electric wheelchair was not particularly explained, but as in the conventional case,
A speed changeover switch may be provided so that the speed at the time of forward movement, backward movement, etc. can be switched in a plurality of steps. In addition, a speed increase command to increase the speed stepwise and a speed decrease command to decrease the speed stepwise are added to the operation command, and for example, voice registration is performed using the words “up” and “down”, and voice recognition is performed until then. If, for example, the electric wheelchair is in the forward movement state, if the user inputs "up" with the microphone, the voice recognition device outputs a speed increase command to the second controller, and the second controller receiving the command causes the second speed controller to move forward. If the voice recognition device outputs a speed lowering command to the second controller by inputting "down" with the microphone, the second controller receiving the command lowers the forward speed by one step. May be. By doing so, it is possible to save the trouble of operating the speed changeover switch. Moreover, although it is made possible to use only the specific speaker who registered the voice, it may be made available to the unspecified speaker.

[0032]

According to the present invention, in an electric wheelchair having a motor for driving wheels, a microphone for voice input, a voice recognition means for recognizing an operation command voice-inputted by the microphone, and a voice recognition means. The control means for controlling the motor according to the recognized operation command is provided, and the operation command input by voice from the microphone is recognized by voice, and the motor is controlled according to the recognized operation command. Even if you are free, you can easily drive the electric wheelchair by voice, so you can go to the desired place without the help of an assistant.

The voice recognition means is provided with a registration means for registering the voice of a specific speaker in advance, and when recognizing an operation command input by voice from a microphone, only the voice registered in the registration means is targeted. Since it is configured to be performed, it is possible to prevent the electric wheelchair from performing an unexpected operation of the user due to the voice of another person while the electric wheelchair is being used and from being used by another person without permission.

In an electric wheelchair equipped with a motor for driving wheels and a joystick for driving operation, a microphone for voice input, a voice recognition means for recognizing an operation command input by the microphone, and a joystick are in operation. When it is determined that the joystick is being operated by the monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the joystick is being operated, a motor control signal corresponding to the operation of the joystick is generated and motor control is performed based on the signal, and the joystick is not operating. When the determination is made, a control means for generating a motor control signal according to the operation command recognized by the voice recognition means and controlling the motor based on the signal is provided, and while the joystick is not operated, voice input is performed. When the joystick is operated by controlling the motor, the motor is operated according to the operation of the joystick. Since configured to perform control, either audio input and joystick operation, it is possible to operate the electric wheelchair can select the best operating method according to prevailing conditions.

From the time the joystick is judged to be in the non-operation state until the operation command is recognized by the voice recognition means,
Since the control means is configured to control the stop of the motor, even if voice recognition does not work while running due to noise in the surroundings, you can stop it by pushing the joystick, and you can easily avoid danger it can.

When the voice recognition means receives a voice input which is difficult to recognize as an operation command through the microphone, the control means is configured to control the stop of the motor, so that the user feels dangerous and screams. The electric wheelchair stops when an object falls or collides with the surroundings, so that the danger can be avoided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an operation unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of data registered in a word dictionary.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second controller.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a motor control signal output from a second controller.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a conventional electric wheelchair.

FIG. 7 is an electrical configuration diagram of a conventional electric wheelchair.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an output characteristic of a joystick.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between a motor control signal and a motor rotation speed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14, 16 Rear wheels 22, 24 Motor 26 Joystick 27 First controller, 28, 29 Driver 30 Microphone 32 Voice recognition device 40 Second controller 42 Monitoring unit 44, 46 Changeover switch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuji Aoyagi 2719 Kamizuruma, Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Santoku Building Room 203 Digital Stream Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electric wheelchair equipped with a motor for driving wheels, a microphone for voice input, a voice recognition unit for recognizing an operation command voice-input by the microphone, and an operation command recognized by the voice recognition unit. An electric wheelchair comprising: a control unit that controls a motor. 2. The voice recognizing means has a registering means for registering a voice of a specific speaker in advance, and when recognizing an operation command input by voice from a microphone, only the voice registered in the registering means is recognized. The electric wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the electric wheelchair is performed. 3. An electric wheelchair equipped with a motor for driving wheels and a joystick for driving, a microphone for voice input, a voice recognition means for recognizing an operation command input by voice from the microphone, and a joystick. When the joystick is determined to be in operation by the monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the operation is being performed, a motor control signal is generated according to the operation of the joystick, the motor control is performed based on the signal, and the joystick is not operated. An electric wheelchair comprising: a control means for generating a motor control signal according to the operation command recognized by the voice recognition means and controlling the motor based on the signal when it is determined to be medium. 4. The control means controls the stop of the motor from the time when the joystick is determined not to be operated until the operation command is recognized by the voice recognition means. The electric wheelchair described in 3. 5. When there is a voice input which is difficult for the voice recognition means to recognize as an operation command through the microphone, the control means:
3. The electric wheelchair according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the motor stop control is performed.