A facial expression controlled wheelchair for people with disabilities.

•A new intelligent and semi-autonomous control wheelchair is developed in order to overcome the shortcomings of the standard joystick.•The control of EWC is determined by the emotion of the face selected by the user, while it's going and stopping. This smart control system is suitable for a large patient group, who cannot use the wheelchair manipulated by a standard joystick.•The user can customize the control by choosing the appropriate facial expressions for him/her using an intelligent algorithm, based on a neural network controller (NN).•This EWC presents an efficient hands-free option that doesn't require sensors or contraptions attached to the user's body.•A three-dimensional simulation environment has been performed to illustrate the new control devise with extreme security.