The document describes the design of the Rapido wheelchair. The wheelchair is controlled by head movements detected by sensors in a Bluetooth headset or by joystick. It uses ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and an Arduino microcontroller. A mobile app allows the user and attendant to communicate and share the user's location and sensor data. The app has features like emergency calling, voice commands converted to text, and locating nearby hospitals. The wheelchair is intended to help disabled individuals move independently without needing constant assistance.

1. 19 Khushi Arora, Parnika Gupta, Niharika Pathak
International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Issue 11
November 2015
Rapido Wheelchair
Khushi Arora, Parnika Gupta, Niharika Pathak
Department of Electronics and Communication
Manav Rachna University, Faridabad
Abstract—This paper introduces RAPIDO, a head
controlled wheelchair which helps a physically
challenged person in transportation. The head movements
are controlled by sensors in the headset. A joystick is
attached for a person who cannot operate it with head.
Ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the obstacles.
Arduino is being used as the programmer. Rapido also
has a mobile application which helps in connectivity of
the attendee and the disabled person. This wheelchair is
beneficial for the disabled as well as for the attendee as
being proved with facts in the paper below. The aim
behind this rapido wheelchair is to help a disabled person
in living life like an abled person do.
Keywords—Arduino, Motors,Mobile application,
Sensors, Accelerometer
I. INTRODUCTION
Transportation is a very important aspect of human
life. But in case of disable person, transportation is
an issue. It has been seen that about 560,000 people
with disabilities never leave home because of
transportation difficulties. They have to depend on
others to help them to move and for other necessities
due to which they always need to have someone who
can help. Since they have to be dependent, so from
the beginning they start lacking confidence and
counts there disability as a priority of life. Some
even curse themselves for birth. The first record of
wheeled seats used for the transportation of disabled
people in China. In 1887, wheelchairs were
introduced to Atlantic City, for invalid tourists so
that they can take on rent and enjoy the boardwalk.
Then in 1933, Harry Jennings and his disabled friend
Herbert Everest came up with the first lightweight,
steel, collapsible wheel chair. After this invention,
wheelchair had a phase where people came up with
different types of wheelchair like manually
propelled, electric power, sports variants, all terrain
variants etc. So the main objective is to design a
head geared wheelchair that reduces the labor of
disabled person, helping him to live independently
and to make him feel that he is not a burden to
others. We aimed to design a wheelchair fitted with
ultrasonic sensors, acceleration sensors, speed
controllers, joystick controls and Bluetooth headset
which is connected to the mobile application, makes
the person independent and helps to live freely. Such
a support helps in improving life span of disabled
person and gives them a hope to live freely and
happily.
II. SYSTEM OVERVIEW
As told earlier, wheel chair consists of ultrasonic
sensors, acceleration sensors, speed controllers,
joystick control and a Bluetooth headset connected
with the mobile application.
The ultrasonic sensors used detect the position of
the obstacles by measuring the length of time of
transmission and reception and help the driver to
control the wheelchair by giving a pre alarm about
the obstacle. The thresholds of the wheelchair are
adjustable. The acceleration of the wheelchair is
controlled by head movement and joystick. The head
movements are controlled by the acceleration
sensors in the Bluetooth headset. The acceleration
sensors have an analog output with two axis and the
values of the two axis of the acceleration sensors are
calibrated in terms of “g” i.e. the g-force. The hand
functions in a disable person maybe limited or may
not be available even so the head control is a good
solution for the movements of the wheelchair. The
head movements are translated by the ultrasonic
sensors into proportional control of wheelchair. The
wheelchair enables the driver to have full command
over the direction of the wheelchair and also gives
an alarm about the obstacles to avoid accidents. Such
a system helps driver to move in which ever
environment he wants, to safely. The acceleration of
wheelchair is not only controlled by head but it can
also be controlled using a joystick. The similar
movements of forward, backward, left and right can
also be done by using joystick controller which is set
on the wheelchair. A person with a disability of head
can operate the wheelchair using joystick. A speed
controller is attached near the joystick which
controls the speed of the wheelchair. It is important
for the driver to maintain the speed of the wheelchair

2. 20 Khushi Arora, Parnika Gupta, Niharika Pathak
International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Issue 11
November 2015
to avoid accidents on roads, ramps, doorways etc.
The driver also needs to maintain the balance of the
wheelchair while driving to avoid any kind of harm.
In case, the driver drives the wheelchair using head
the speed can be controlled using the controller.
Moreover in case of turns controlled speed is
necessary as to maintain the balance of the
wheelchair. The castor wheels are attached at the
front of the wheel chair helps in proper balancing of
the wheelchair and also helps in safe turns of the
chair. In case of right turn, the right castor stop
working and the left castor makes the turn easier,
safer and balanced and vice versa. The wheelchair is
connected to a mobile application that is being made
for the attendee and the disabled person. The
application is setup on the cell phone of the disabled
person. The attendee need to have the same mobile
application that disabled has on the cell phone. Both
will be in contact with each other through this
mobile application. The attendee can trace the
location of the disabled whenever he wants to with
the help of the mobile application. The information
about the obstacles detected by the ultrasonic sensors
is given to the attendee through this application.
Moreover the application has an emergency call
button which gives attendee a call whenever the
disabled person is in an urgent need. The application
also has a button to record a message said by the
driver and then the message gets converted into text
and goes to the attendee’s mobile application. The
communication between the disabled and attendee
can be done through mobile application.
III. COMPONENTS OF BLOCK DIAGRAM
Figure 1: Components
A. ACCELEROMETER (ADXL345)
ADXL345 is a small, low, ultralow power, 3 axis
accelerometer with high resolution measurement at
up to 16g. ADXL345 is well suited for mobile
device application. It measures the static acceleration
of gravity in tilt sensing applications as well as
dynamic acceleration resulting from motion or
shock. Several special sensing functions are also
being provided by the accelerometer. The
accelerometer used plays a very important role in
movement of wheelchair. It is attached with the
Bluetooth headset so that the head movements can
easily be measured. It helps in proper head tilts that
were required for moving the wheel chair forward,
backward, right and left. These are mostly used
where sensitive data is required and that too at low
power consumption. The output signals are analog
voltages that are proportional to acceleration. The
accelerometer can measure the static acceleration of
gravity in tilt sensing application as well as dynamic
acceleration resulting from motion or vibration.
Figure 2: Accelerometer
B. ARDUINO LEONARDO
The Arduino Leonardo is a micro controller board
based on the ATmega32u4. It has 20 digital
input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM
outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal
oscillator, a micro USB connection, a power jack, an
ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains
everything needed to support the micro controller;
simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or
power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get
started. The Leonardo differs from all preceding
boards in that the ATmega32u4 has built-in USB
communication, eliminating the need for a secondary
processor. This allows the Leonardo to appear to a
connected computer as a mouse and keyboard, in
addition to a virtual (CDC) serial / COM port.

3. 21 Khushi Arora, Parnika Gupta, Niharika Pathak
International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Issue 11
November 2015
Figure 3: Arduino
C. POWER SUPPLY
The power supply is used to supply electric load
with the electric energy. The converts one form of
electric energy into another. The 24volt power
supply used gives 5v regulated power supply to the
micro controller. The motor driver too gets motor
voltages from the power supply. Power supply
delivers dc voltage to the item requiring power. The
power supply provides all the components with their
required voltages and currents so that the outcome of
the product is appropriate as required
Figure 4: Power supply
D. BLUETOOTH HEADSET
The Bluetooth headset have an accelerometer
attached to it which detecting the tilt of head for
movements like forward, backward, right and left.
The Bluetooth in the headset helps in connecting
wheel chair with the mobile application. And
indirectly it also helps attendee in getting the updates
of the chair through the application.
Figure 5: Bluetooth Headset
IV. MOBILE APPLICATION
The wheel chair is connected to a mobile application
which is being made for the driver as well as for the
attendee. The purpose of the wheel chair is to
develop a mode of communication between the
driver who is on the wheel chair and the attendee. It
acts as a path between the driver and attendee.
Because of the application with all required features
the attendee needs not to be present always for the
driver. Presence of an attendee always near a
disabled person irritates the person and makes him
feel as a burden and a responsibility for the world.
He also wants to be free in the world and wants to
live on his conditions. Moreover for an attendee also
it is not possible to be with a person whole day. So
an mobile application satisfies both driver’s as well
as attendee’s needs. For a driver it helps a disabled
person to move around the world like others do. He
can go wherever he wants to alone. This makes him
independent and he no more feel a burden of his on
others. Whereas for an attendee, it is his duty to be
with the disabled person but sometimes a situation
can come that he will not be with the person. In such
cases, the application proves to be beneficial for the
attendee. He can trace the driver driving the wheel
chair through this application. He can help him in
emergency cases also. The application has all the
features that a driver and an attendee would need to
overcome their problems. This is an app to app
communication channel which has the capability to
solve the problems of the people.
App Features for driver:
1. A column for information about the attendee.
2. Voice control option
3. Emergency call
App Features for attendee:
1. Location of driver
2.Hospital availability
3. Ultrasonic sensor data
4. Voice converted commands
1. ATTENDEE INFORMATION: The column in
app is made to fill the details of the attendee under
whose observation the disabled person is so that app
to app communication between the driver and
attendee can be done easily. The details require the
phone number of the attendee which helps in
connecting the driver’s app with attendee’s.
2. VOICE CONTROL: The wheel chair has a voice
recognition system. In this system the driver can
record his voice and send it to attendee in form of a

4. 22 Khushi Arora, Parnika Gupta, Niharika Pathak
International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Issue 11
November 2015
textual message. The feature of a voice control is
meant for that purpose only as when the driver feels
like recording the voice he has to press the icon and
has to keep it pressed till he is not completed. When
he releases the icon, the voice information goes to
the app on attendee’s phone.
3. EMERGENCY CALL: The feature of
emergency call in mobile app helps the driver to
make a call to the attendee in panic situations. The
calling will be done from driver’s app to the
attendee’s app.
4. LOCATION OF DRIVER: The attendee can
trace the location of wheelchair whenever he wants
to. Even the app is capable of providing 24 hours
tracking of the wheel chair so that the attendee is
aware of the location of the driver.
5. ULTRASONIC SENSOR DATA: The ultrasonic
sensors on the wheel chair helps in detecting the
obstacles at a certain range coming in front of the
wheel chair. The app gives the data detected by these
sensors so that in case the wheel chair doesn’t stops
by detecting the obstacle then the attendee can reach
and help the driver from having an accident.
6. VOICE CONVERTED COMMANDS: Wheel
chair has a feature of voice to text which converts
the voice message into textual message and sends the
message to the attendee on the app. The driver has
the feature of voice control where the driver records
the voice note and then sends it to the attendee
through the app. Attendee can read the converted
note on the command option present on the
attendee’s app.
7. HOSPITAL AVALIABILTY: The feature of
hospital availability in the app is for the attendee so
that in case of urgent emergency he can contact the
hospital and calls the doctor at the location instead of
searching for help in panic situations. He can
immediately call for help from the hospital at
required location where the driver needs.
Figure 6: Mobile Application
IV. CONCLUSION
The intended objectives were successfully achieved
in the Prototype model developed. The developed
product is easy to use, economical and does not
require special training. Though the project
showcases the proof of concept, there are a few
aspects that can be included to make the model more
advanced to help. The head control operation for
movement can be replaced by advanced mind
control operations for speed control, movements etc.
More advanced sensors can also be used instead of
ultrasonic sensors. The communication is not very
secure. Another ZigBee module operating at the
Same frequency can easily intercept the transmitted
data. Further, a more sophisticated microcontroller
can be used.
V. REFERENCES
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and touch screen based direction and speed control of
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 Takeshi Saitoh Masato Nishimori and Ryosuke Konishi,
“Voice controlled intelligent wheelchair,” SICE Annual
Conference, Kagawa University, Japan, 2007
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 S. Tameemsultana and N. Kali Saranya (2011),
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5. 23 Khushi Arora, Parnika Gupta, Niharika Pathak
International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Issue 11
November 2015
 Manuel Mazo, Francisco J. Rodriguez, Josi L, L Zaro,
Jesi Is Urei A, Juan C. Garcia, Enrique Santiso, Pedro
Revenga And J. Jesi Is Garcia (1995) Wheelchair for
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