Graduation Year

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.M.E.

Degree Granting Department

Mechanical Engineering

Major Professor

Rajiv Dubey, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Shuh-Jing Ying, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ashok Kumar, Ph.D.

Keywords

phantom, haptic, simulation, interface, driving controls

Abstract

The need to lead an independent and fuller life is as much a right of a person with physical disability as any other human being. Driving capabilities of a person with a disability have been assessed and evaluated using qualitative techniques. However, certain inadequacies that arise using qualitative measures can be avoided if the assessment is based on quantitative techniques.

The above requirement necessitates the need to devise a method and a system which is focused on the right development of the techniques used in assessing and measuring different capabilities (such as range of motion and force input) of the person with a disability in a detailed manner. This thesis focuses on developing an experimental method which can be adopted as an assessment tool to evaluate different capabilities of a person with a disability. The test bed used for this purpose consists of two independent systems combined together by an interface. They are the six-degree of freedom force reflecting hand controller known as the PHANTOM haptic device [12] and a commercially available adaptive driving control system known as the AEVIT system [15]. The test bed provides compatibility between the PHANTOM and AEVIT which makes it feasible for the PHANTOM to model and control the driving input devices (steering and gas/brake) of the AEVIT system.

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