For wheelchair users, comfort, safety and ease of use would be the top three priority features when it comes to finding the perfect wheelchair. Now, imagine if there soon will exist a groundbreaking feature that will take wheelchair tech to the next level; that is independence. 

Applications of this feature are already visible on the radar as Australian medical technology company Control Bionics (ASX: CBL) has just launched the world’s first autonomous driving wheelchair module at Deakin University’s new Digital Health Lab. The groundbreaking module, named DROVE, can be retro-fitted to powered wheelchairs and allows users to move their chair autonomously and precisely without a joystick, to specific locations within the home, which is claimed to be the world’s first. 

DROVE uses a digital camera system with Control Bionics tracking software and NeuroNode technology which allows users to control an interface using only neural signals. It can navigate doorways and tight hallways and detect and even stop for unexpected obstacles. 

Created in collaboration with Deakin University’s Applied AI Institute (A2I2), DROVE’s main offering is to provide safe, reliable and relaxing movement around the home which gives users a whole new sense of freedom and independence unimaginable before. 

Control Bionics CEO Jeremy Steele commented, “Our NeuroNode technology allows people who are completely locked in to communicate and now DROVE will enable them to safely move around their home. It’s a level of independence they’d never considered possible,” 

“Giving independence, security and control to those living with restricted movement from diseases such as sclerosis, cerebral palsy and motor neurone disease (MND) as well as spinal cord injuries, was the driving reason behind Control Bionics’ inception and DROVE goes a long way toward that,” he added. 

Control Bionics is a technology company which focuses on electromyography (EMG), capturing and processing bioelectric signals into electronic commands to allow users to do everything they would normally do with a keyboard, mouse, joystick or touchscreen. The DROVE module is the latest application of the company’s NeuroNode technology which allows a disabled person to use their own neuroelectric signals, from their brain to a muscle, to control communication and movement through smartphones, tablets, computers and robotics, even when that muscle is not fully functional. 

As an example, a person can use their eyes to replace a mouse in controlling a cursor on a screen simply by looking where they want the cursor to move; and then to select anything under the cursor using NeuroNode, providing fast, intuitive communication and control through text, text-to speech, emails, phone-messaging, web surfing and robotics. This has enabled people living with severe disabilities to communicate despite being completely “locked in”. 

Prior to DROVE, Control Bionics has also participated in designing and developing innovative AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) called COSMOS Connect in April 2022, primarily to help people with communication challenges to participate more fully in daily life. COSMOS Connect allows users to use their NeuroNode system to control multiple external components from a single NeuroNode device, such as iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. This gains the user more control over different devices and allows them to perform multiple tasks, such as operating dining robots, playing video games on Xbox, and operating electronic toys.

For the Half Year ended 31 December 2022, Control Bionics reported revenue of $2.9m which represented an approximately $550k increase on the previous year. It translated to statutory net loss after tax of ($3m), primarily due to heightened raw materials and employee benefits expenses, which was still a slight improvement compared to ($3.1m) loss it incurred in the previous corresponding quarter (pcp).

Pending regulatory approvals, it seems that DROVE would be headlining Control Bionics’ list of projects for the rest of the financial year, hoping to contribute traction and sales profit to the Company parallel with growth in North America, Australia, as well as new markets in Japan and Singapore.