When an electric powered wheelchair (EPW) user leaves the confines of their home and ventures into the outdoors, they are confronted with a wide variety of terrain and driving conditions. Very little research has been done in trying to understand the difficulties EPW users face when driving outdoors. The first section describes a focus group study of 31 EPW users with the objective of assessing EPW users comfort level when driving in various outdoor conditions. Questionnaire and focus group transcripts showed that the EPW users top concerns were slipping, getting stuck, and tipping. The driving conditions most avoided were in the general themes of soft surfaces, angled surfaces, and adverse conditions.
The second section presents in detail the electronic and mechanical design of an advanced controller for an EPW. A single board computer provides the computational power and storage space needed to execute normal operations, complex safety algorithms, and extensive data logging. Sensors provide feedback on velocity and inertia. A rugged aluminum enclosure protects the electronics. The advanced controller is used to research better ways to provide safety and customization for the EPW user. The outcome of this project as a whole was to demonstrate what can be done with an EPW to enhance the mobility and safety of its occupant.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-03282011-233924 |
| Date | 04 May 2011 |
| Creators | Salatin, Benjamin |
| Contributors | Dan Ding, PhD., Rory A. Cooper, PhD., Jonathan Pearlman, PhD. |
| 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-03282011-233924/ |
| 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. |
Page generated in 0.0127 seconds