At the ninth China International Import Expo, a smart wheelchair combining a brain-computer interface (BCI) and autonomous driving technology has drawn attention. Users can control it without using their hands—moving forward, reversing, turning and navigating to a designated location using only their thoughts.
The wheelchair is on display at the Qualcomm booth. Its lead developer, Wang Ning, was diagnosed with a spinal tumor in 2020. After two major surgeries, he was once paralyzed from head to toe, and at his worst could move only his eyes. A fine arts graduate with no engineering background, he taught himself programming, circuit board soldering and 3D printing to build assistive devices for himself.
His wife, Huang Jinhua, has been involved in the research and development throughout. In April this year, the couple entered a 48-hour hackathon. Their original plan—a mind-controlled lamp—was interrupted when the circuit board burned out, so they pivoted to the mind-controlled wheelchair and ultimately won first prize in the hardware track.
The user decides where to go; the system handles execution
The wheelchair uses a shared control model: the user generates directional intentions—forward, backward, left or right—which the system decodes from brain signals while filtering out irrelevant thoughts. LiDAR and depth cameras handle obstacle detection and avoidance, with a response time of about 0.1 seconds (108 milliseconds).
This model is particularly useful for people with limited neck mobility. Users do not need to turn their heads to look around; the system can detect obstacles to the side and rear and automatically navigate around them or stop.
Beyond direct control, the wheelchair can autonomously navigate to preset locations such as the bathroom or bedroom, triggered by a single thought confirmation or voice command. The system can learn the user's habits over time, proactively asking at fixed times whether they want to go to a rehabilitation center.
It has a range of about 20 kilometers. The target cost is under 50,000 yuan.
The standard version has a range of about 20 kilometers on a single charge, sufficient for daily commuting and high-speed rail travel. The long-range version reaches 40 kilometers, and under normal use, it requires charging about once every three days.
The team plans to keep the total unit cost (including sensors and mechanical components) under 50,000 yuan to lower the barrier to use. The product mainly targets people with spinal cord injuries, post-stroke mobility impairments and conditions such as scoliosis that make prolonged walking difficult.
Wang Ning said the purpose of attending the CIIE is to connect with enterprises, technicians and potential partners, and he hopes the system can be adapted to different models of electric wheelchairs in the future to benefit more users.
Reporter, Video & Photos | Jiang Chang
