A UAV system using an eye-tracking device for ALS patients (Design of its control screen considering field of vision and experiments)

Abstract

In many countries, the rate of aging in their populations is rapidly increasing. We expect the number of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in bedridden state to increase. The patients are restricted in many aspects of their daily lives, including limited vision to the outside world except only what they can see from the inside of their rooms. This paper proposes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system using an eye-tracking device for ALS patients in order to improve their quality of life (QOL). This system consists of a UAV, a control screen, an eye-tracking device, a computer, and a transmitter. The UAV has a camera and the camera images are displayed on a control screen. The patient’s gaze position is detected by the eye-tracking device. By using this system, the patient will be able to control the UAV by moving his/her eyes while he/she looks at the camera images on the control screen. Firstly, we explain the research background. Secondly, we describe the overview of the UAV system. Thirdly, we explain the design method of the control screen considering field of vision, eye movements, and eye strain in order to reduce operational errors. Finally, we present experimental results to verify the effectiveness of this system and the control screen.

Keywords

• control
• control system
• unmanned aerial vehicle (uav)
• eye-tracking device
• quality of life