Evaluation of changes in power wheelchair maneuver induced by a downhill turning prevention control on cross sloped surfaces

Suzurikawa, Jun; Kinoshita, Takehiko; Inoue, Takenobu; Kamo, Mitsuhiro; Iida, Norikazu; Iwata, K.; Matsumoto, Osamu

doi:10.1002/tee.21823

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to quantify the driving operations of MMSs. As shown in previous studies on the measurements and analysis of PWC operations, precise quantification of the driving operation will provide insightful cues that will enable the characterization and improvement of the user driving styles [35][36][37]45]. Previous methods of skill evaluations for MMSs were mainly dependent on the rater's observations of the driving performance [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies on PWC driving have revealed that the measurement and analysis of the joystick inputs provide plentiful insights into the interactions between the driver and the wheelchair. Suzurikawa and colleagues quantified the operational burden using the joystick input signals to evaluate the effect of a downhill-turning prevention control that was implemented on a PWC [35]. Sorrento and colleagues also analyzed the joystick signals of PWCs during driving and found differences between the joystick operation patterns of novices and those of experienced PWC users [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimation of Steering and Throttle Angles of a Motorized Mobility Scooter with Inertial Measurement Units for Continuous Quantification of Driving Operation

Suzurikawa

Kurokawa

Sugiyama

et al. 2022

Sensors

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With the growing demand from elderly persons for alternative mobility solutions, motorized mobility scooters (MMSs) have been gaining importance as an essential assistive technology to aid independent living in local communities. The increased use of MMSs, however, has raised safety issues during driving and magnified the necessity to evaluate and improve user driving skills. This study is intended to develop a novel quantitative monitoring method for MMS driving operation using inertial measurement units (IMUs). The proposed method used coordinate transformations around the rotational axes of the steering wheel and the throttle lever to estimate the steering and throttle operating angles based on gravitational accelerations measured by IMUs. Consequently, these operating angles can be monitored simply using an IMU attached to the throttle lever. Validation experiments with a test MMS in the stationary state confirmed the consistency of the proposed coordinate transformation with the MMS’s geometrical structure. The driving test also demonstrated that the operating angles were estimated correctly on various terrains and that the effects of terrain inclination were compensated using an additional IMU attached to the scooter body. This method will be applicable to the quantitative monitoring of driving behavior and act as a complementary tool for the existing skills’ evaluation methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Steering and Throttle Angles of a Motorized Mobility Scooter with Inertial Measurement Units for Continuous Quantification of Driving Operation

Suzurikawa

Kurokawa

Sugiyama

et al. 2022

Sensors

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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An easily attachable measurement system of joystick angle in a power wheelchair using IMUs for maneuvering logger

Liu,

Suzurikawa

2024

Sci Rep

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Monitoring joystick operations in power wheelchairs (PWCs) is promising for investigating user-wheelchair interaction and providing quantitative measures to assess the user’s driving performance. In this paper, an add-on measurement system, Power Wheelchair Maneuvering Logger (PWhML), is developed to provide an easy-to-implement and cost-effective solution for monitoring the user’s joystick operations in PWCs. The proposed system uses two compact inertial measurement units (IMUs), which are respectively attached to the joystick and wheelchair armrest for movement sensing. A coordinate transformation-based method is proposed to estimate the joystick operating angles using the acceleration data measured by the attached IMUs. The accuracy of the proposed method was thoroughly evaluated under different conditions. The evaluation trials in a stationary PWC reported a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.59° in the forward/backward direction and 0.64° in the leftward/rightward direction, validating the established geometry model for coordinate transformation. The subsequent driving experiments on outdoor test courses demonstrated the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method in various terrain conditions (MAE of less than 3°). A clustering analysis based on the t-distributed stochastic neighborhood embedding method correctly categorized different driving activities using the joystick operating angles measured by PWhML. These results indicate that integrating the developed PWhML into PWCs can facilitate a quantitative measurement of the user’s driving behavior, providing valuable insights to identify careless operation patterns and help PWC users to improve driving performance.

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Estimation of wheelchair states during movement using WELL-SphERE for evaluation of power wheelchair safety

Komoto

Suzurikawa

2013

2013 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC)

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To comprehensively evaluate the usability and safety of a power wheelchair (PWC), monitoring multimodal data related to the PWC in a real environment is crucial. In most studies exploring actual wheelchair conditions, modification of PWCs has been required. Especially modification of controlling circuits aiming for measurement of joystick operation may lead to controller malfunction and thus increase safety risk. It is essential, therefore, to ensure the safety of PWC users during experiments so that they can measure PWC-related data with their own wheelchairs. To achieve this aim, we developed a recording device that is easily installed on PWCs without any electronic modifications. The device, called a "WELL-SphERE," has sensing units that can be attached to PWCs a data management unit that can store and transfer measurement data. Here, we focused on joystick operation logged by the system. Seven participants were pre-tested to examine the characteristics of logged operations during runs through four test courses. Subsequently, all participants completed a questionnaire regarding the difficulty of the test courses. From these results, we classified the logged operations into four categories of "wheelchair states." Two participants--a novice driver and a mature driver--were also evaluated to verify the accuracy of the estimated wheelchair states. The accuracies of the estimates by the mature and novice driver were 98.8% and 89.0%, respectively. The wheelchair states for both participants showed characteristic patterns. Therefore, the wheelchair states estimated with the data logged using WELL-SphERE are valid indicators of the wheelchair conditions during movement.

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Evaluation of changes in power wheelchair maneuver induced by a downhill turning prevention control on cross sloped surfaces

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

Estimation of Steering and Throttle Angles of a Motorized Mobility Scooter with Inertial Measurement Units for Continuous Quantification of Driving Operation

Estimation of Steering and Throttle Angles of a Motorized Mobility Scooter with Inertial Measurement Units for Continuous Quantification of Driving Operation

An easily attachable measurement system of joystick angle in a power wheelchair using IMUs for maneuvering logger

Estimation of wheelchair states during movement using WELL-SphERE for evaluation of power wheelchair safety

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