There are likely a quarter of a million individuals who cannot use power wheelchairs because of an inability to use control interfaces. There are likely even more who desire computer access and whose impairments preclude them from being effective users. Historically, isometric controls were thought to have limited application for individuals with movement disorders due to their sensitivity to unintentional movements. The work in this thesis is a series of studies that demonstrate the potential of an alternative method of controlisometric technology. Our work shows that individuals with upper limb impairments can perform just as well with isometric controls as with conventional proportional control, and in some cases individuals with tremor actually perform better with isometric controls. We also introduce work on adaptive control algorithms that can correct errors in movement made with control interfaces and improve performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-11132008-145915 |
| Date | 28 January 2009 |
| Creators | Dicianno, Brad |
| Contributors | Rory Cooper, Jon Pearlman, Donald Spaeth |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-11132008-145915/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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