Mouse for computer control from the joystick of the weelchair (original) (raw)

Becoming autonomous is one of the biggest challenges for many people with disabilities. Increasing their autonomy usually involves the use of both a wheelchair and any kind of digital assistant such as a computer or a tablet to communicate, to work or even only for leisure. In such situations, those people are forced to use two different human interfaces, one to move a pointer and the other to drive the wheelchair. A joystick is the most common commercial solution to control a wheelchair whereas there are many different adapted interfaces to emulate the use of a mouse. In this paper we propose the use of a wheelchair joystick as a human interface for electronic devices such as computers, tablets or smartphones. This designed system captures the motion of the joystick on a wheelchair to move the cursor or the pointer of any digital device including an USB port. It avoids any mechanical or electronic change in the joystick to keep its original safety and warranty. This non-invasive mo...