Three degree of freedom haptic feedback for assisted driving of holonomic omnidirectional wheelchairs

Update Item Information
Title Three degree of freedom haptic feedback for assisted driving of holonomic omnidirectional wheelchairs
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Engineering
Department Mechanical Engineering
Author Christensen, Quinton M.
Date 2011-08
Description Increased demand for powered wheelchairs and their inherent mobility limitations have prompted the development of omnidirectional wheelchairs. These wheelchairs provide improved mobility in confined spaces, but can be more difficult to control and impact the ability of the user to embody the wheelchair. We hypothesize that control and embodiment of omnidirectional wheelchairs can be improved by providing intuitive control with three degree of freedom (3-DOF) haptic feedback that directly corresponds to the degrees of freedom of an omnidirectional wheelchair. This thesis introduces a novel 3-DOF Haptic Joystick designed for the purpose of controlling omnidirectional wheelchairs. When coupled with range finders, it is able to provide the user with feedback that improves the operator's awareness of the area surrounding the vehicle and assists the driver in obstacle avoidance. The haptic controller design and a stability analysis of the coupled wheelchair joystick systems are presented. Experimental results from the coupled systems validate the ability of the controller to influence the trajectory of the wheelchair and assist in obstacle avoidance.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Assistive technology; Control systems; Force feedback; Haptics; Joystick; Omni-directional Wheelchair
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Master of Science
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Quinton M. Christensen 2011
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 4,417,580 bytes
Identifier us-etd3,44862
Source Original housed in Marriott Library Special Collections, RD14.5 2011 .C473
ARK ark:/87278/s6sb4mhs
Setname ir_etd
ID 194646
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6sb4mhs
Back to Search Results