Winner of the University Challenge and Finalist for Idea of the Year at Galileo Masters 2019

FreeWheel is a platform that allows people with reduced mobility to freely discover the way to their preferred destinations. It proposes a decisive tool that enhances the independent mobility of wheelchair users while exploiting the GNSS-based positioning available on smartphones. FreeWheel is based on automatic, crowd-sourced data acquisition from devices located in a dock attached to the wheelchair. Heat maps are populated with data gathered from these devices, and maps are then converted into a web mapping and navigation service. Automatic data collection and real-time navigation will be realised in a smartphone application. By making use of both GPS and Galileo (dual-frequency) signals, it is possible to enhance positioning within urban environments, which is likely an area of significant interest for wheelchair users. Furthermore, the smartphonebased positioning capabilities could be augmented by integrating additional sensors (for inertia, for example) along with the actual constrained dynamics of wheelchairs. The accessible paths available will be stored, and historical data could be exploited later as a means of efficiently supporting the development of new urban infrastructure.