This paper presents a novel shared control algorithm for robotized
wheelchairs. The proposed algorithm is a new method to extend
autonomous navigation techniques into the shared control domain. It reactively
combines user’s and robot’s commands into a continuous function
that approximates a classic Navigation Function (NF) by weighting input
commands with NF constraints. Our approach overcomes the main drawbacks
of NFs -calculus complexity and limitations on environment
modeling- so it can be used in dynamic unstructured environments. It also
benefits from NF properties: convergence to destination, smooth paths
and safe navigation. Due to the user’s contribution to control, our function
is not strictly a NF, so we call it a pseudo-navigation function (PNF)
instead.
