The SmartWheeler project is a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at integrating state-of-the-art robotic and AI technologies for developing intelligent wheeled mobility platforms. The project is a collaboration between researchers, technicians and clinicians, from the fields of computer science, engineering and rehabilitation.The scientific goals of the project range from a sociological investigation of the needs for high-tech mobility solutions, to the development of machine learning algorithms to achieve robust communication, to AI techniques for socially adaptive path planning, to in-depth validation with clinically-functional outcomes. In this short paper, we outline some of the main contributions of the project in terms of integrating AI in the design and development of the intelligent wheelchair platform.