Wheelchairs have come a long way from the manual, self-propelled variety, with some motorized ones using joysticks or keypads to propel the devices. For some, though, motorized wheelchairs aren’t widely accessible. A collaboration between researchers at the Assistive & Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory, or “argallab,” and the Rogers Research Group is trying to fix that. “The.
When McCormick School of Engineering Prof. Brenna Argall was in college, it only took one class to change her career trajectory toward the field of autonomous robotics.
Since then, she has worked with her lab to create an autonomous wheelchair that uses external sensors to measure distance and avoid collisions, making it more accessible to people who find it a burden to use a typical wheelchair.
Argall and the autonomous wheelchair were featured on Saturday’s episode of CBS show “Mission Unstoppable” hosted by Miranda Cosgrove and produced by Litton Entertainment and Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN initiative.
The show tells stories of women from diverse backgrounds in STEM to inspire younger girls to pursue careers in those fields.