COMPUTER VISION CAPABILITIES FOR A SEMI - AUTONOMOUS WHEELCHAIR by

by JEREMY TARVER (Under the Direction of Walter D. Potter) ABSTRACT The semi-autonomous wheelchair uses a multi-layered intelligent agent architecture designed to provide people with severe multiple disabilities navigational assistance in indoor environments. This paper describes the addition of computer vision capabilities to the semiautonomous wheelchair. Specifically an intelligent agent design is described which detects doorways in indoor environments and provides the location to the user via a tactile interface. A prototype is developed that demonstrates the software architecture is capable of operating in a real time environment.