SMART STAIR LIFT FOR DISABLEDAND ELDERLY

K.Navya, B.Pavan Kumar,G.Hema Mounika, B.Vineeth,K Prabhakara Rao, I A Pasha

Electronics andcommunication Engineering,

B.V.Raju Institute of technologyNarsapur, Medak- 502313,

Indiaprabhakar.kapula@gmail.com

May 23, 2018

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to develop anindoor as well as outdoor stair lift. A stair lift is a chairthat glides up and down a staircase on a motorized rail.While going up and down the stairs safety is the primaryconcern, the present day, top quality lifts include manyfeatures to maximize comfort, ease of use andattractiveness in the home, which is a safe and affordablesolution to overcome the unique needs and challenges thatpeople experience on the stairs. Stair lift, the mobilechair-like mobility device attached on one side ofstairways, allows to improve access for aged between floorsat homes, and to make many people with mobilityproblems live independently through the internet of things.Hence, we are designing a single rail stair elevator toreduce production costs as well as construction time thatis required in case of escalators and elevators.

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Key Words:Motorized rail, the comfort, mobile chair,mobility , the internet of things .

1 Introduction

Advancements in technology made disabled people to lead anindependent life and play a more productive role in society.Stairways into buildings present a significant environmentalbarrier for those with mobility impairments, including olderadults. A number of home access solutions that allow users tosafely enter and exit the home exist, however these all have somelimitations. The purpose of this work was to develop a novel, aninclusive home access solution that integrates a staircase and a liftinto one device [1].

The Excel stairway lift system will be installed in order to givepeople the independence needed to move around their home. Theuse of two individual stairway lift systems ensures that she caneasily move from level to level. A handle placed in between thetwo stairway lift systems, which will allow them to move from onechair to the other [2]. A novel remote centre mechanism wasproposed where in a wheelchair can glide along the stairs. In thissystem, the angle of the seat on the attitude of the chair changesalong the angle of inclination of the user irrelevant of the angle ofthe wheelchair. An attitude sensor along with a relatively smallactuator used, this minimal degree of active control madepossible. Usually we find that people neither can drivewheelchairs properly at cross muddy patches nor uneven terrain.Similar is in the case of stair where one approach is use of legs.Advances in robotics have made it possible to build and controlmachines in every way possible. It is not difficult to build awheelchair with legs that can climb slopes, step over obstacles,which run along stairs. In 1987 a four legged chair developed bythe University of Illinois at Chicago and the VeteransAdministration Hines Rehabilitation Research and DevelopmentCentre based on research in quadruped walking was developed.This invention could sustain a weight of around 110 kg. Inaddition, has a capacity of carrying a payload of 113.6 kg [3].

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In October 1998, a prototype incorporating a computercontrolled pantographic legs and with a simple linear gait walkedin the laboratory. However, it did not carry a passenger, and itwas using a stationary controller containing complex design. It isdue to the legs that a person had to sit in stable position withoutany movement, which is not very comfortable in many cases. Eventhere are safety issues concerned with the system. In wheeledsystems, the wheels passively support the chair and do not requireany control electronics nor needs any maintenance of system.Because of the complexity of the system, safety is a naturalconcern lack of which people do not opt for this mechanism [4].

A staircase can make climbing of stairs for aged and physicallyhandicapped a breezy affair. This led to use of smart stair lift inKerala. This stair lift has a rail of 12 meters attached on one sideof stair was and has a battery which gives continuous 24V DCcurrent. This system though being most advanced costs up to0.3million along with maintenance for period of six months andincludes installation costs [5].

Elevators have powered electric motors that can drive eithertraction cables or counterweight systems. Because of thewheelchair access laws and constraints like power consumption,and limited access, occupying large area [6]. There is a rule madefor shopping malls and few multi-storeyed buildings to haveelevator or escalator to aid people with disabilities. Stair lift is amechanical device for lifting people or wheelchairs up and downstairs accordingly, implemented at both sufficiently wide stairsand narrow staircases. A chair attached to the rail for a person tosit [7]. A person on the chair moves along the rail with the help ofmotorized rail. Stair lifts also known with various names as stairlifts, stair-lifts, chair lifts, stair gliders. There should not be anyconfusion between chair lift and the lift used by skiers. Smartstaircase is a type of lift mounted on the staircase without anymodification in civil structures. This smart staircase offcourseruns on electric power, which may be AC or DC and consists of amotor two rails a sliding chair. The actual size of the smartstaircase acting as a lift will depend on length of staircase and can

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be assembled, and mounted accordingly as per convenience anddisassembled easily with little efforts. Lifts are invented long back,then came escalators both being implemented indoor gave rise tomobility problem for physically handicapped and aged who have ahabit of moving outdoor. But, installation of lift involves ampleamount of time and cost for rails, motor honk, civil structures [8].

For the installation of lifts in the stalk, structure cost is toohigh and it even depends on usage of lift. To overcome thesefactors like cost of implementation and cost of civil construction,the concept of stair case lift come with advantages over traditionalelevators and escalator. The reduced extra costing associated withthe lift mechanism, and with the fact that implementation of thesystem is possible even outdoor. A lift is an essential platformthat is either pulls up or pushes down with the help of mechanicalstructure. The modern day lift when consists of a cab mountedwithin a closed space. In the past, lift driving principle was basedon steam generated power or water hydraulic pistons, which onadvancement became simpler as discussed earlier [11].

The respective advantages and disadvantages of different typesof electric-powered wheelchairs, elevators, and escalators outlinedfor an overall comparison of the control method using userfriendly methods, cost of mechanical manufacture and structure,power consumption, and adaptability to different stairs; weproposed our Smart staircase system with few smart features [10].

The sensor used in this system for implementation ofautomation is force resistive sensor with specification of FSR406.On study of its behaviour, it understood that the aggregations ofreadings from all the individual force sensors are to take requiredaction [13]. This sensor arranged at smart positions in order totake appropriate action when the person sits on the chaircomfortably. This FSR406 has a required active area to sense theforce acting when a man sits on the chair. More advanced systemcould be in practise with very small modification of use of certainultrasonic sensors for detection of obstacle in any case. Byarranging four ultrasonic sensors at the footrest and armrest,forthcoming person or object detected and the device stopped for

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few seconds until obstacle is out of the way.

There exists few models such as escalators and elevators, usedto go up and down the stairs but these, are not explicitly for thephysically handicapped. For an instance, a physicallyhandicapped cannot use the escalator the only option available tohim/her is the use of the elevator. There also exist scenarioswhere both elevators and escalators cannot be used due tolimitations in architecture. The drawbacks in the existing systemsare:

1. Elevators occupy more space. Therefore, implementation inplaces where sufficient space is not available becomes tough.

2. The existing systems consume more power for operation.Despite of using of sensors in escalators for power saving,still the power consumption is high.

3. If these are not operated properly, they can be dangerous

4. Healthy people develop the habit of depending upon elevators;therefore, the physical activity reduces.

5. In elevators, people get struck for hours between floors whenthe power goes out and there is no back up for the powersupply.

6. It involves risk while operating these in wooden houses andbuildings.

The design being modified and installed at home will not be foran individual confined to a wheelchair. Due to spatial restrictions,the design calls for a collapsible built in the chair system. Equippedwith a seatbelt and a remote, this system will allow for independentmobility up and down the stairs [2].

2 WORKING OF THE PROPOSED

SYSTEM

Our interest specifically focused, on the development of an IOTbased electro-mechanical system where in a person can connect to

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the smart staircase through an android application built in MITapp inventor for locomotion over the stairs. A smart positioning ofthe sensor over the chair enables a person automatically gets theaccess to this novel system.

These days the Internet of Things (IoT) is the most famous andtrending wireless communication model due to its vast applicationsand reach to access. It involves a simple concept of controllingelectronic or electro mechanical devices using internet. Our smartstaircase also has this smart and easy feature of internet of things.Node mcu being a controller that has inbuilt Wi-Fi capability isbeing used as its range is 15-200 meters and simple to program.Node mcu occupies less space and has the easily understandablearchitecture reducing efforts of programmer. However, Node mcuhas only one analog pin, used for FSR406 without any risk. Otherdigital pins used for motor driving using the motor driver MD30Cand limit switches arranged at both ends to know the end points[14].

Figure 1 Home screen of android app

Figure 2 Control screen of the application

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3 PARTS SPECIFICATIONS

The low-power Wi-Fi system for sensing applications isoptimized to have advantages of accuracy, speed, throughput,delay, and coverage range. Hence, node MCU being mostadvantageous is used in this project.

There might be a situation where people do not even want touse any button system. It being obvious, as technology has beentremendously improving day-to-day people wants their life to bemore comfortable. This is the reason that a force sensor arranged insuch a way that, it can sense the force acting on it when a person sitson the chair and programmatically a delay of few seconds is givenfor the person to completely make him/herself comfortable on thechair and put the seat belt on. Safety is always the first prioritythat a person looks into when is getting on with new technologyalong side with efficiency, speed and accuracy.

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4 BLOCK DIAGRAM

Figure 3 Block Diagram of Smart Staircase

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5 FLOWCHART

Figure 4 Flowchart for working of the Smart Staircase

Initially using the mobile, we need to connect to Node mcuthrough Wi-Fi. Here Node mcu is server and password protected.Using the application pre-installed on the mobile phone we can havecontrol over its operation for mobility over stairs. In automaticmode using pressure sensor, when the weight acts on it, chair slidesover stairs either upward or downward. Here SMPS (switched modepower supply) connected to a motor driver through Node mcu whichenables for sliding of the chair over the rail. Its architecture is mosteconomical and made portable so that it can be fixed anywhere with

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less efforts and less power consumption. Physically handicappedand aged people can use this smart staircase easily as it has twomodes automatic and mobile operated. It all depends on the user touse in which mode either in automatic or mobile operated. Thereare two rails, one on the top and other at the bottom for moresecure performance and sustainability.

Figure 5 Smart Staircase arrangement along the Stairs

Utility winch is fixed at certain height so that pull to the chairuninterrupted. There are rollers at the back of the chair, on the railarranged in ’V’ shape. There is a hook like the structure, whichattached to the chair. This utility winch is of 2000lb so that it canmanage a weight of around 1000 kilograms. Gravitational force(mgh) acts in opposite direction to the upward movement in ordersatisfy this 2000lb utility winch is used.

Figure 6 The Foldable paddled chair

These paddles are arranged one at the bottom and two at themiddle. These foldable paddles are used so that it does not disturbpeople climbing the stairs.

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Figure 7 Design of Architecture

The above figure is a design made using Solidworks tool. Itgives us an exact design for implementation. The only thing needto be taken care of is the step size and angle of inclination.

Figure 8 Position of roller for the easy movement

The most important role is of rollers that enables easy access tothe device over the stairs with less friction acting on them. At thecenter of the above design, the hook of utility winch attached.

Figure 9 Real time implementation of Smart Staircase

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6 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE

SCOPE

In this paper, we proposed an IOT based system, which providesthe easy way for aged and physically handicapped for mobility overstairs. After getting phone connected to the system, easily usingthe application which is on your phone one can ascend or descendover the stairs. In the automatic mode, smart positioning of thesensor enables sliding over the stairs even easier with least effortsmade by human. Architecture is cost effective and portable within less time This system can be advanced to have a battery backin case of any power issues. This system can be implemented onstraight stairs only, and can be further modified for even turns.

References

[1] www.researchgate.net/publication/281946043 Development ofan integrated staircase lift for home access

[2] D Ding R.A Cooper ”Electric-Powered Wheelchairs: A reviewof current technology and insight into future directions”¡em¿IEEE Control Systems Magazine¡/em¿ 2005.

[3] www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jmce/papers/RDME-Volume5/RDME-48.pdf

[4] Kumar, Vijay Rahman, Tariq Krovi, Venkat. (1997). AssistiveDevices For People With Motor Disabilities.

[5] www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-propertyplus/climbing-of-stairs-is-a-breezy-affair-for-senior-citizens-now/article2640657.ece

[6] simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator

[7] Avinash V. Gaikwad1 Pravin S. Ghawde2 Sandip J. Kadam3,International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,Engineering and Technology Vol. 2, Issue7, July 2013.

[8] .Burdick, J.W., Radford, J., and Chirikjian, G.S., ASidewinding Locomotion Gait for Hyper Redundant Robots,

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Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics andAutomation. 1993.

[9] Helmick, D., Roumeliotis, S., McHenry, M., Matthies,L., Multi-sensor, high speed autonomous stair climbing,IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems(IROS), September 2002

[10] S. Yu T. Wang X. Li ”Configuration and tip-overstability analysis for stair-climbing of a new-style wheelchairrobot” ¡em¿Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Mechatronics andAutomation¡/em¿ pp. 1387-1392 2010.

[11] E. Mihankhah, A. Kalantari , E. Aboosaeedan, H.D. Taghirad, and S.Ali.A. Moosavian , Autonomous Staircase Detectionand Stair Climbing for a Tracked Mobile Robot usingFuzzy Controller, Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE InternationalConference on Robotics and Biomimetics.

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