Full Speed ahead: Route Planer for People in Wheelchair

01.09.2006

Soon it will be a matter of the past to wheel around for ages in order to get to the next snack bar because high kerbs or stairs block the way. Four students developed a navigation system for wheelchair users. That way handicapped people should find barrier-free routes.

Martin Stein is one of the students at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg (Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, HAW). He has friends sitting in wheelchairs. When they moved around town together, they always had problems with stairs or elevated kerbs. It was difficult to find easier ways.

Therefore, the student of informatics tried to find a solution to this problem with his fellow students Mark Thomé, Piotr Wendt and Sven Stegelmeier.

They developed a new software which works like a navigation system for cars. The programme can be loaded to a PC but also to small handhelds or mobile phones. That way wheelchair users are able to carry the device with them. The software works with GPS, a satellite-based system that determines positions all over the world.

"What is special about the system is that it shows the user routes that are not listed in any ordinary map", explains Birgit Wendholt, mentor of the student team. This is possible because all users can save the data where they have been and which way they have used such as a narrow trails. Marc Thomé explains: "When a wheelchair user uses a certain track, the route is recorded by the system. Then this information is saved by the programme."

Those using the system in future could collect data on the routes taken by other wheelchair users in order to make it accessible for others. They just need to connect their device to the internet in order to store all collected information in a memory accessible to all users. Thus, the number of information would increase permanently. If a wheelchair user from Kiel wants to find its way around in Munich, he could start the programme, tells the system the location to start and the desired destination. Then he could see convenient routes, which other users have already used.

The project is called Path-Finding Community and won a special prize at a worldwide students contest called Innovation Cup. This prize offers the inventors the opportunity to take part in a workshop in Great Britain next year which is supported by two big sponsors. There the product will be made capable for everyday life so that people in wheelchairs soon can get their next portion of fish and chips without obstructions.

REHACARE.de

- Further information about HAW at: www.haw-hamburg.de