Wheelchair Hacking

Other Hardware Device Hacking
1

Has anyone every try to do anything fun with Wheelchair I\O and an Arduino?

I'm in the process of getting a new electric wheelchair and something interesting appeared on the order form: An RS-232 Serial I\O module.

http://www.pgdt.com/products/r-net/rnet-iom.html

The module was designed for simple on-off operation of switches in home automation applications but upon asking some though questions, my vendor found me the I\O technical manual:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7547119/R-net%20Input-Output-Module%20Technical%20Manual%20(SK78814-1).pdf

It looks like there is quite a bit of I\O that could be used in a project.

I'd like to do some EL wire, maybe even use joystick output for gaming applications.
(Pac Man on my iPad via the RedPark cable would be epic!)

Hopefully, I can get some ideas and feedback here in the playground.

Thanks,

Jon

2

Hmm.. Well mining the inputs is easy enough..

Let's see.. Easiest would be tapping the joystick lines and feeding those to analog inputs, and then use bluetooth to connect to the pad...

I'll be happy to help in any way I can with ideas you may have...

3

There's lots of potential with this setup, the primary limiting factors are going to be how much time and money you want to expend tricking-out your new chair. :slight_smile:

Something not yet mentioned would be sound. Whether it's just hacking an MP3 player board to controls on an armrest, or doing a full custom sound system including speakers, radio, and microphone; you've got some options there as well.

With wireless modules like Xbees, you could also turn lights and some appliances on and off on command, or automatically as you moved around your home.

I have some other ideas but they start getting into the "way too expensive and/or eccentric" territory.