Unicycle steering by brakes: A passive guidance support for an assistive cart

Very often the decline of the cognitive abilities related to age determines a gradual withdrawal of older adults within the domestic walls. Part of the problem is the difficulty in navigating in large and crowded environments that are perceived as intimidating by users with declining cognitive and sensitive ability. To alleviate this problem, we propose a walking assistant endowed with autonomous sensing and active brakes able to guide the user. In this paper, we address the problem of how to guide the user with a minimal impact on her/his freedom of motion. We propose a solution based on the use of an active braking system which can be easily accommodated on commercial walkers. The paper proposes a control strategy that strikes an interesting solution to guide the user through the optimal path without restricting her/his freedom of motion. © 2013 IEEE.