Automated vehicles (AVs) have been developing at a rapid pace over the past few years. However, many difficulties still remain for achieving full Level-5 AVs. This signifies that AVs still require human operators to intervene or assist, such as taking over control of AVs or selecting their routes. Therefore, teleoperation can be seen as a subsystem of AVs that can remotely control and supervise a vehicle when needed. However, teleoperated driving conditions are largely different from real-life driving, so remote drivers may experience different driving feedback. In such a situation, therefore, the driving behaviour and performance of remote drivers can also be impacted. The following three studies were conducted to investigate these points. First, a seamless comparative study was carried out between teleoperated and real-life driving. Driving behaviour and performance were compared in two scenarios: slalom and lane following. Significant differences in driving behaviour and performance between them were found in the study. The lane following deviation during teleoperated driving is much greater than that of real-life driving. In addition, remote drivers are more likely to drive slower and make more steering corrections in lane following manoeuvres. Second, three types of steering force feedback (SFF) modes were compared separately in both teleoperated and real-life driving to investigate the effect of SFF on driving experience. The three SFF modes consist of Physical model-based steering force Feedback (PsF), Modular model-based steering force Feedback (MsF), and No steering force Feedback (NsF). The difference between PsF and MsF is that the main forces come from different sources, namely the estimated tyre force and steering motor current, respectively. As expected, the experimental results indicate that NsF would significantly reduce the driving experience in both driving conditions. In addition, remote drivers were found to require reduced steering feedback force and returnability. Finally, the influence of motion-cueing, sound, and vibration feedback on driving behaviour and experience was studied in a virtual teleoperation platform based on the IPG CarMaker environment. The prototype of a teleoperated driving station (TDS) with motion-cueing, sound, and vibration feedback was first developed to study human factors in teleoperated driving. Then, the low-speed disturbance scenario and high-speed dynamic scenario were used separately to investigate how these factors affect driving. Experimental results indicate that sound and vibration feedback can be an important factor in speed control by providing remote drivers a sense of speed. In the low-speed disturbance scenario, motion-cueing feedback can help with road surface perception and improve the driving experience. However, it did not significantly improve driving performance in the high-speed dynamic scenario. The research conducted reveals how driving behaviour may change in teleoperated driving and how different driving feedback influences it. These results could provide guidance for improving teleoperated driving in future research and serve as a guide for policymaking related to teleoperation. / Självkörande fordon (AV) har utvecklats i snabb takt de senaste åren. Men det finns fortfarande många utmaningar innan man når  helt självkörande fordon. Följaktligen krävs fortfarande säkerhetsförare när AV-enheter är i drift och i framtida drift kan AV-enheter stöta på oväntade problem som en människa behöver lösa. Fjärrövervakning kan därför ses som ett  backupsystem, som kan fjärrstyra och övervaka fordonet när det inte fungerar. Men situationen  vid fjärrstyrning är helt annorlunda än för körning i verkligheten, där fjärroperatörer kan uppleva olik återkoppling  och känslor jämfört med körning i verkligheten. Därför kan även fjärroperatörernas körbeteende och prestanda ändras i denna situation. För att undersöka detta utfördes följande tre studier. För det första genomfördes en sömlös jämförelsestudie mellan fjärrstyrning och verklig körning. Körbeteende och prestanda jämfördes i två scenarier, nämligen slalom och linjeföljning. Signifikanta skillnader i körbeteende och prestanda hittades mellan fjärrstyrning och körning i verkligheten. Avvikelse från linjeföljning vid fjärrstyrning är betydligt större än för körning i verkligheten. Dessutom är det mer sannolikt att fjärroperatörer kör i lägre hastigheter och gör fler styrkorrigeringar vid fjärrstyrning.  För det andra jämfördes tre typer av styrkraftsåterkopplingsmodeller (SFF) separat i både fjärrstyrning och verklig körning för att undersöka SFF:s inverkan på körupplevelsen. De tre SFF-modellerna inkluderar en  modell för fysisk återkoppling (PsF), modell för modulär återkoppling (MsF) och ingen återkoppling (NsF). Skillnaden mellan PsF och MsF är att huvudkrafterna härrör från olika källor, nämligen respektive från den matematiskt uppskattade däckkraften och från styrmotorströmmen. Som förväntat tyder resultaten av experimentet på att NsF avsevärt skulle minska körupplevelsen vid både fjärrstyrning och körning i verkligheten. Vid fjärrstyrning upptäcktes också  att operatörer kräver minskad styråterkopplingskraft och returförmåga.  Slutligen studerades påverkan av rörelsestyrning, ljud och vibrationsfeedback på körbeteende och upplevelse. Prototypen av fjärrkontrolltorn  med rörelsestyrning, ljud och vibrationsfeedback utvecklades först för att studera mänskliga faktorer vid fjärrstyrning. Sedan användes ett låghastighetsscenario med störningar och det dynamiska höghastighetsscenariot separat för att undersöka hur dessa faktorer påverkar körning vid fjärrstyrning. Resultaten av experimentet indikerar att ljud- och vibrationsåterkoppling kan vara till stor hjälp för att reglera  hastigheten genom att ge operatörerna medvetenhet om hastighet. I låghastighetsscenariot kan återkoppling  från rörelsestyrning underlätta uppfattningen av vägytan och förbättra körupplevelsen. Den ökade dock inte nämnvärt dynamisk körprestanda  i hög hastighet.  Denna forskning undersöker hur körbeteendet kan förändras vid fjärrstyrning och hur olika återkopplingar till operatör påverka körning på distans. Dessa resultat kan  ge vägledning om hur man kan förbättra fjärrstyrning i framtida forskning och fungera som en referens för skapande av regler kopplat till fjärrövervakning och fjärrstyrning. / <p>QC 230504</p>

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O exame de palpação é um procedimento no qual um profissional da saúde pressiona uma região específica do corpo de um paciente com os dedos a fim de detectar a presença ou ausência de características e anormalidades sob a pele. Um simulador que forneça subsídios para o treinamento deste procedimento pode contribuir para o aprendizado da técnica e o aprimoramento de sua execução em pacientes, além de, dentre outras vantagens, eliminar a necessidade de exposição de pacientes aos riscos das situações reais, minimizar o uso de objetos físicos e tornar possível a simulação de diferentes casos e ações. O objetivo principal deste trabalho consiste em desenvolver um simulador de palpação mamária com retorno háptico realista. No contexto do exame de palpação, existe uma lacuna no que concerne a definição de técnicas e parâmetros de retorno de força que ofereçam uma experiência mais realista de interação para o usuário. Após uma revisão sistemática da literatura foi feito o mapeamento dos principais parâmetros para representar diferentes nódulos durante o treinamento virtual visando ao diagnóstico de anomalias mamárias. Tais parâmetros foram equacionados com a finalidade de obter uma representação realista em um dispositivo háptico. Além disso, interfaces foram implementadas para permitir a geração de casos com a variação desses parâmetros referentes aos nódulos (tamanho, consistência, localização e contorno). Os resultados obtidos a partir de uma avaliação com uma profissional da medicina mostraram que o retorno de força aplicado a cada uma das características foi realista para todos os parâmetros, com limitação na representação de nódulos espiculados, que deve ser melhorada. Além de contribuir com a área de Computação no sentido de ter definido técnicas e parâmetros de retorno de força importantes para a simulação de exames de palpação, o trabalho disponibiliza uma ferramenta que pode contribuir para a aquisição efetiva da habilidade necessária para a execução do procedimento em questão / Palpation exam is a procedure in which a health care professional presses a specific region of a patient\'s body with the fingers in order to detect the presence of features and abnormalities under the skin. A simulator that aids the training this procedure may contribute to the learning of the technique and the improvement of its implementation in real patients. The main objective of the Master\'s degree work proposed in this paper is to develop a breast palpation simulator with haptic feedback. The results of a Systematic Review conducted in order to assess the state-of-art of the simulation of the palpation procedure showed that despite being a new area, there are already many innovative works that received positive reviews. However, in the context of palpation examination, a gap exists regarding the definition of techniques and force feedback parameters to provide a more realistic experience to the user. After a Systematic Review from the literature the mapping of the main parameters was done to represent different nodules during the virtual training for the diagnosis of breast abnormalities. These parameters were transformed into equations with the goal of obtaining a realistic representation on a haptic device. Besides, user interfaces were implemented to allow the creation of cases with the variation of the parameters relative to the nodules (size, consistency, localization and contour). The results obtained from an assessment done with a medical professional showed that the force feedback applied to each one of the characteristics was realistic to all the parameters, with limitations on the representation of spiculated nodules, which must be improved. Aside from the contribution to the Computing area in the sense that force feedback techniques and parameters important to the simulation of palpation exams were defined, this work offers a tool that can contribute to the effective acquisition of the necessary skills to the execution of the procedure in question

O exame de palpação é um procedimento no qual um profissional da saúde pressiona uma região específica do corpo de um paciente com os dedos a fim de detectar a presença ou ausência de características e anormalidades sob a pele. Um simulador que forneça subsídios para o treinamento deste procedimento pode contribuir para o aprendizado da técnica e o aprimoramento de sua execução em pacientes, além de, dentre outras vantagens, eliminar a necessidade de exposição de pacientes aos riscos das situações reais, minimizar o uso de objetos físicos e tornar possível a simulação de diferentes casos e ações. O objetivo principal deste trabalho consiste em desenvolver um simulador de palpação mamária com retorno háptico realista. No contexto do exame de palpação, existe uma lacuna no que concerne a definição de técnicas e parâmetros de retorno de força que ofereçam uma experiência mais realista de interação para o usuário. Após uma revisão sistemática da literatura foi feito o mapeamento dos principais parâmetros para representar diferentes nódulos durante o treinamento virtual visando ao diagnóstico de anomalias mamárias. Tais parâmetros foram equacionados com a finalidade de obter uma representação realista em um dispositivo háptico. Além disso, interfaces foram implementadas para permitir a geração de casos com a variação desses parâmetros referentes aos nódulos (tamanho, consistência, localização e contorno). Os resultados obtidos a partir de uma avaliação com uma profissional da medicina mostraram que o retorno de força aplicado a cada uma das características foi realista para todos os parâmetros, com limitação na representação de nódulos espiculados, que deve ser melhorada. Além de contribuir com a área de Computação no sentido de ter definido técnicas e parâmetros de retorno de força importantes para a simulação de exames de palpação, o trabalho disponibiliza uma ferramenta que pode contribuir para a aquisição efetiva da habilidade necessária para a execução do procedimento em questão / Palpation exam is a procedure in which a health care professional presses a specific region of a patient\'s body with the fingers in order to detect the presence of features and abnormalities under the skin. A simulator that aids the training this procedure may contribute to the learning of the technique and the improvement of its implementation in real patients. The main objective of the Master\'s degree work proposed in this paper is to develop a breast palpation simulator with haptic feedback. The results of a Systematic Review conducted in order to assess the state-of-art of the simulation of the palpation procedure showed that despite being a new area, there are already many innovative works that received positive reviews. However, in the context of palpation examination, a gap exists regarding the definition of techniques and force feedback parameters to provide a more realistic experience to the user. After a Systematic Review from the literature the mapping of the main parameters was done to represent different nodules during the virtual training for the diagnosis of breast abnormalities. These parameters were transformed into equations with the goal of obtaining a realistic representation on a haptic device. Besides, user interfaces were implemented to allow the creation of cases with the variation of the parameters relative to the nodules (size, consistency, localization and contour). The results obtained from an assessment done with a medical professional showed that the force feedback applied to each one of the characteristics was realistic to all the parameters, with limitations on the representation of spiculated nodules, which must be improved. Aside from the contribution to the Computing area in the sense that force feedback techniques and parameters important to the simulation of palpation exams were defined, this work offers a tool that can contribute to the effective acquisition of the necessary skills to the execution of the procedure in question

Haptic systems incorporate many different components, ranging from virtual simulations, physical robotic interfaces (super joysticks), robotic slaves, signal communication, and digital control; two-port networks offer compact and modular organization of such haptic components. By establishing specific stability properties of the individual component networks, their control parameters can be tuned independently of external components or interfacing environment. This allows the development of independent haptic two-port networks for interfacing with a class of haptic components. Furthermore, by using the two-port network with virtual coupling paradigm to analyze linear haptic systems, the complete duality between an admittance controlled device with velocity (position) feedback and virtual coupling can be compared to an impedance controlled device with force feedback and virtual coupling. This research first provides background on linear haptic two-port networks and use of Llewelyn's Stability Criterion to prove their stability when interfaced with passive environments, with specific comments regarding application of these linear techniques to nonlinear systems. Furthermore, man-machine interaction dynamics are addressed, with specific attention given to the human is a passive element assumption and how to include estimated human impedance / admittance dynamic limits into the two--port design. Two--port numerical tuning algorithms and analysis techniques are presented and lay the groundwork for testing of said haptic networks on HuRBiRT (Human Robotic Bilateral Research Tool), a large scale nonlinear hybrid active / passive haptic display. First, two-port networks are numerically tuned using a linearized dynamic model of HuRBiRT. Resulting admittance and impedance limits of the respective networks are compared to add insight on the advantages / disadvantages of the two different implementations of haptic causality for the same device, with specific consideration given to the advantage of adding force feedback to the impedance network, selection of virtual coupling form, effects of varying system parameters (such as physical or EMF damping, filters, etc.), and effects of adding human dynamic limits into the network formulation. Impedance and admittance two-port network implementations are experimentally validated on HuRBiRT, adding further practical insight into network formulation. Resulting experimental networks are directly compared to those numerically formulated through use of HuRBiRT's linearized dynamic models.

La notion d'instrumentalité peut être définie comme la relation corporelle entre un humain et un objet physique, dit instrument. Ce corps à corps intime, qui adresse simultanément les différents canaux sensoriels d'action et de perceptions humaines, constitue un vecteur pour la connaissance enactive. Cette relation instrumentale joue notamment un rôle clé pour la richesse expressive des instruments musicaux.Dans le contexte informatique, un vaste champ de recherche concerne l'interaction sensorielle avec des entités virtuelles par le biais de capteurs et d'actionneurs, notamment l'interaction gestuelle avec les systèmes à retour d'effort. D'une part, les Réalités Virtuelles, historiquement centrées sur la visualisation, focalisent essentiellement l'interaction gestuelle sur des propriétés spatiales, souvent au détriment de qualités dynamiques. D'autre part, les Instruments Musicaux Numériques sont essentiellement centrés sur le contrôle interactif de processus de synthèse sonore numériques, basés sur le traitement de l'information. Ces deux scénarii synthétisent des phénomènes sensoriels destinés à différents canaux perceptifs selon une approche multimodale, l'objet virtuel étant décomposé en sous-parties, liées entre elles par des relations de contrôle.Il est néanmoins possible de concevoir des systèmes permettant l'interaction instrumentale avec un objet virtuel simulé, avec une cohérence énergétique bidirectionnelle totale, du geste au son et réciproquement. Il est alors nécessaire de regrouper (a) un formalisme de modélisation physique permettant la création d'objets virtuels intrinsèquement multisensoriels, possédant à la fois des propriétés visuelles, acoustiques et haptiques, (b) des systèmes à retour d'effort de grande performance dynamique et (c) des architectures de calcul spécialisées, permettant une boucle de simulation synchrone réactive à haute vitesse.Le travail de cette thèse consiste en l'extension et la convergence des concepts et techniques ci-dessus pour la mise en œuvre d'une plateforme de création musicale instrumentale, dite MSCI (modeleur-simulateur pour la création instrumentale), en proposant une répartition multifréquence du calcul de simulation des instruments virtuels sur une nouvelle architecture matérielle synchrone. Un environnement de modélisation permet de concevoir intégralement l'instrument virtuel sur des principes mécaniques et physiques et de configurer le couplage physique entre celui-ci et l'utilisateur du monde réel lors de la simulation à retour d'effort.Il adresse entre autre la question de la répartition de la chaine instrumentale en zones à caractère majoritairement non-vibrant, dont la dynamique est de l'ordre du geste sensori-moteur humain, et en zones vibrantes, productrices du son. Ces deux parties de l'instrument peuvent être simulées à des fréquences différentes, adaptées aux phénomènes physiques dont elles sont le siège. Dans le cadre d'un formalisme de simulation physique garantissant la cohérence énergétique des objets simulés, la séparation multifréquence est une problématique nouvelle qui nécessite d'être abordée avec précaution, pour des questions de respect du couplage physique ainsi que de stabilité numérique.Il s'agit, à notre connaissance, du premier environnement de création musicale par modélisation physique modulaire permettant la manipulation instrumentale d'instruments virtuels multisensoriels, respectant une cohérence énergétique entre homme et instrument, et permettant de jouir du potentiel créatif de la synthèse sonore tout en retrouvant l'intimité et la richesse de l'interaction gestuelle instrumentale. Au delà du cadre musical, ce travail pose les bases et les outils technologiques pour un véritable art multisensoriel, adressant conjointement la vision, l'oreille ainsi que le geste humain. / The notion of instrumentality can be defined as the corporal relationship between a human and a physical object, called an instrument. This intimate situation simultaneously addresses the various human action and perception sensory canals, and constitutes a vector for enactive knowledge. In particular, this instrumental relationship plays a key role in the expressiveness of musical instruments.In the digital context, a vast area of research concerns sensory interactions with virtual entities, by means of sensors and actuators, including gestural interaction with force feedback systems. On the one hand the Virtual Reality domain, historically focused on visual aspects, generally focus gestural interaction on spatial features, often losing the focus of dynamic features. On the other hand, Digital Musical Instruments are essentially centered on interactive control of digital sound synthesis processes, grounded in information technologies and signal processing. These two approaches synthesize sensory phenomena destined to different perceptive channels following a multimodal approach, the virtual object being decomposed into subsections, linked together by control relations.It is however possible to conceive systems that allow for instrumental interaction with a virtual simulated object, maintaining total and bidirectional energetic coherence, from gesture to sound and reciprocally. In this case, it is necessary to bring together (a) a physical modeling formalism that allows creating intrinsically multisensory virtual objects that possess visual, acoustical and haptic properties, (b) force feedback systems with high dynamic performances and (c) specialized computation architectures that allow for a reactive, high rate synchronous simulation loop.The work of this thesis consists in the extension and convergence of concepts and techniques hereby mentioned here-above, in order to create a platform for instrumental musical creation, named MSCI (Modeleur Simulateur pour la Création Instrumentale), proposing a multi-rate architecture for the simulation of virtual musical instruments on a new dedicated simulation architecture. A modeling environment allows complete design of the virtual instrument based on mechanical and physical principles, and to configure the haptic coupling between this instrument and the user during the force-feedback simulation.Notably, it addresses the separation of the instrumental chain into zones which present mostly non-vibrating phenomena within a dynamic range close to the human sensory-motor gesture, and zones which vibrate at acoustical rates, producing sound. These two sections of the instrument may be simulated at different rates, adapted to the physical phenomena that they give birth to. In the scope of a physical modeling formalism that guarantees the energetic coherence of simulated objects, this multi-rate separation is a new topic that requires careful handling, in terms both or respect of the physical coupling and of numerical stability.To our knowledge, this is the first environment for musical creation by means of physical modeling that allows for instrumental manipulation of multisensory virtual instruments, respecting an energetic coherence between the human and the instrument, and therefore allowing embracing the creative potential of digital sound synthesis while disposing of the intimacy and expressiveness of instrumental gestures. Beyond the musical scope, this work provides the basis and the technological tools for the emergence of a true multisensory form of art, jointly addressing vision, hearing and gesture.

Ce projet s’inscrit dans l’effort développé par l’Agence Spatiale Européenne (ESA)pour robotiser les activités extravéhiculaires à bord de la Station Spatiale Internationale et lors des futures missions d’exploration planétaire. Un aspect important de ces projets concerne le retour de force et la capacité, pour la personne qui commande les mouvements du robot, à ressentir les efforts qui lui sont appliqués. Le but est d’améliorer la qualité et l’immersion de la téléopération.<p><p>L’objectif de cette thèse est la conception d’une interface haptique de type exosquelette pour le bras, pour ces missions de téléopération à retour de force. Ce système doit permettre une commande intuitive du robot téléopéré tout en reproduisant<p>le plus fidèlement possible les efforts. <p><p>Les chapitres 2 et 3 présentent les études réalisées sur un banc de test à 1 degré de liberté, destinées à comprendre le contrôle haptique ainsi qu’à évaluer différentes technologies d’actionnements et de capteurs. Les principales méthodes de contrôle sont décrites théoriquement et comparées en pratique sur le banc de test. Les<p>chapitres 4 et 5 décrivent le développement de l’exosquelette SAM destiné aux futures applications de téléopération spatiale. La conception cinématique, le choix des actionneurs et des capteurs sont décrits. Différentes méthodes de contrôle sont également comparées avec des expériences de réalité virtuelle (sans robot esclave) et de téléopération. Pour finir, le chapitre 6 présente le projet EXOSTATION, un démonstrateur de téléopération haptique spatiale, dans lequel SAM est utilisé comme interface maître. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) consists in operating through small incisions in which a camera and adapted instruments are inserted. It allows to perform many interventions with reduced trauma for the patient. One of these is the ablation of peripheral pulmonary nodules.<p><p>Nevertheless, the means for detecting nodules during MIS are limited. In fact, because of the lack of direct contact, the surgeon cannot palpate the lung to find invisible lesions, as he would do in classical open surgery. As a result, only clearly visible nodules can be treated by MIS presently.<p><p>This work aims at designing, building and controlling a teleoperated palpation instrument, in order to extend the possibilities of MIS in the thoracic field. Such an instrument is made of a master device, manipulated by an operator, and a slave device which is in contact with the patient and reproduces the task imposed by the master. Adequate control laws between these two parts allow to restore the operator's haptic sensation. The goal is not to build a marketable prototype, but to establish a proof of concept.<p><p>The palpation device has been designed in collaboration with thoracic surgeons on the basis of the study of the medical gesture. The specifications have been deduced through experiments with experiencied surgeons from the Erasmus Hospital and the Charleroi Civil Hospital.<p><p>A pantograph has been built to be used as the master of the palpation tool. The slave is made of a 2 degrees of freedom (dof) clamp, which can be actuated in compression and shear. The compression corresponds to vertical moves of the pantograph, and the shear to horizontal ones. Force sensors have been designed within this project to measure the efforts along these directions, both at the master and the slave side, in order to implement advanced force-feedback control laws and for validation purposes.<p><p>Teleoperation control laws providing a suitable kinesthetic force feedback for lung palpation have been designed and validated through simulations. These simulations have been realized using a realistic model of lung, validated by experienced surgeons. Among the implemented control schemes, the 3-Channel scheme, including a local force control loop at the master side, is the most efficient for lung palpation. Moreover, the increased efficiency of a 2 dof device with respect to a 1 dof tool has been confirmed. Indeed, a characteristic force profile due to the motion in 2 directions appeared in the compression force tracking, making the lesion easier to locate. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Many devices are available on the market for the evaluation and rehabilitation of patients suffering from muscular disorders. Most of them are small, low-cost, passive devices based on the use of springs and resistive elements and exhibit very limited (or even not any) evaluation capabilities; extended muscular force evaluation is only possible on stationary, expensive, multi-purpose devices, available only in hospitals, which offer many exercise modes (e.g. isokinetic mode) that are not available on other devices.<p><p>The objective of this thesis is to make the functionalities currently only implemented on bulky multi-purpose devices available at a lower cost and in a portable fashion, enabling their use by a large number of independent practitioners and patients, even at home (tele-medecine applications).<p><p>In order to achieve this goal, a portable rehabilitation device, using a magneto-rheological fluid brake as actuator, has been designed. This particular technology was selected for its high level of compactness, simple mechanical design, high controllability, smooth and safe operation. The first part of this thesis is devoted to the design of MR-fluid brakes and their experimental validation. The second part is dedicated to the design of the rehabilitation device and the comparison of its performances with a commercial multi-purpose device (CYBEX). / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished