An interactive robotic walker for assisting elderly mobility in senior care unit

This paper describes a robotic walker, Johnnie, that provides assistance to mobility-challenged people, especially elderly people. Our walker is modified from a conventional unpowered four-wheel walker by equipping motors, sensors and some safety devices, providing mobility and stability to it. In our software system, we provide two modes: (1) autonomous mode in which the walker can autonomously navigate to the user without collision, and (2) rehabilitation mode in which the walker will assist the elderly to walk safely and smoothly. We have done a preliminary test of the two modes in our lab environment and analyzed the result.