Model-based design of a path planning algorithm for a motorized wheelchair

Motorized wheelchairs help people with disabilities in everyday life and often they are not able to control the wheelchair itself. This project is placed in the autonomous guide of a wheelchair in an indoor environment, developed at Teoresi S.p.A, where the planning of the path represents the first step to move autonomously an item, considered as a mobile robot. Several pathfinding algorithms exist, but the most appropriate is the A* algorithm, given its low computational cost and its high efficiency. Using the innovative method, called "Model-Based Design", the code is no longer written "by hand", but is modelled, tested and auto-generated. This allows to reduce developing and testing times, saving half or more time needed to achieve the main goal. Nevertheless, the handwritten code is not abandoned, since the system requires to interface with other modules to move the wheelchair independently. Thanks to this kind of implementation, we are able to plan the path of a wheelchair safely. The developed code can run independently of the final application, as long as it is considered as a differential mobile robot.