A behavior control method based on hierarchical POMDP for intelligent wheelchair

This paper describes a behavior control method for intelligent wheelchair in uncertain environments. The intelligent wheelchair is introduced, and the model and principle of Partially Observable Decision Process (POMDP) are given. A hierarchical POMDP model is proposed, which decomposes the decision making process into a set of small ones that can be done more efficiently. The model can account for both state transition and observation uncertainty. This behavior control method based on hierarchical POMDP is implemented and tested onboard an intelligent wheelchair in the context of an interactive service task. During the course of experiments conducted in an assisted living facility, the intelligent wheelchair successfully demonstrated that it could autonomously provide service and information to the users.