人机交互中基于时间约束的人体工效模型

针对人机交互领域速度-准确度折中关系的预测中任务完成精确度的预测模型较为欠缺的问题,提出了一种基于时间约束的精确度模型预测方法。该方法采用了人机交互研究中常用的受控实验测试分析法,研究了在计算机用户界面中要求用户在给定的时间内完成任务时,任务完成的精确度与给定的时间约束之间的折中关系,用以衡量完成时间约束任务的人体工效。实验中设计了一系列受时间约束的轨道滑动任务,实验环境中自变量包括轨道长度、轨道宽度以及规定的在轨道中滑动的时间,因变量为任务完成的精确度,采用在轨道中滑动时轨迹的纵向偏差表示。通过对30位被试者实验数据的分析发现,任务完成的精确度与轨道宽度以及滑动速度(表示为轨道长度/规定的滑动时间)之间构成线性的关系,在此基础上采用最小二乘方回归法建立了一个基于时间约束的任务完成精确度的量化模型;该模型与真实实验数据集的拟合优度达到了0.857。     

MR-SAS and electric power steering variable universe fuzzy PID integrated control

In order to solve the problem of MR-SAS and electric power steering (EPS) integrated control, the suspension and steering system integrated dynamic model was established, and the variable universe fuzzy PID integrated controller was designed. Due to the difficulty of self-adaptive and the superiority of compound control of fuzzy control, the variable universe fuzzy PID compound controller based on fuzzy inference was designed. The fuzzy on–off control based on trapezoidal membership function was used to the fuzzy control and PID control. And the random road input and steering wheel angle step input simulation experiment was carried out in the integrated system. Compared with the passive system and separate control, experimental results show that the integrated control system has obvious superiority.

     

Motion Control of a 6WD/6WS wheeled platform with in-wheel motors to improve its maneuverability

Multi-axle driving mobile platform that are favored in special environments require high driving performance, steering performance, and stability. Among these, six wheel drive and six wheel steering vehicles hereinafter called 6WD/6WS, gain structural safety by distributing the load and reducing the pitching motion during rapid acceleration and braking. 6WD/6WS mobile platforms are favorable for military use, particularly in off-road operations because of their high maneuverability and mobility on extreme terrains and obstacles. 6WD vehicles that use in-wheel motors can generate independent wheel torque without a need for additional hardware. Conventional vehicles, however, cannot generate an opposite driving force on wheels on both sides. In an independent steering and driving system six-wheel vehicles show better performance than conventional vehicles. This paper discusses the improvement of the cornering performance and maneuverability of 6WD/6WS mobile platform using independent wheel torque and independent steering on each wheel. 6WD/6WS vehicles fundamentally have satisfactory maneuverability under low speed, and sufficient stability at high speed. Consequently, there should be a control strategy for improving their cornering performance using the optimum tire forces that satisfy the driver’s command and minimize energy consumption. From the driver’s commands (i.e., the steering angle and accelerator/brake pedal stroke), the desired yaw moment with virtual steering, desired lateral force, and desired longitudinal force are obtained. These three values are distributed to each wheel as torque and steering angle, based on the optimum tire force distribution method. The optimum tire force distribution method finds the longitudinal/lateral tire forces of each wheel that minimize cost function, which is the sum of the normalized tire forces. This paper describes a 6WS/6WD vehicle with improved cornering performance and the results are validated through TruckSim simulations.

     

A waypoint-tracking controller for a bionic autonomous underwater vehicle with two pectoral fins

This study aims to develop a waypoint-tracking control system for a biomimetic underwater vehicle (BUV). The BUV is propelled by wide paired pectoral foils, and each pectoral foil is driven by three independent fin rays. To simplify the control strategy, the maximum flapping amplitude of the pectoral fin is used to control the forward velocity, and a turning factor is defined for the manoeuvre control. Several swimming experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of the control parameters on the swimming performance of the prototype. Based on the results of the swimming experiments, a waypoint-tracking control system is proposed, which contains two layers: the velocity control layer and the heading angle control layer. A subdivision control method is adopted by the velocity control layer to get the maximum flapping amplitude. The fuzzy control method is employed by the heading angle control layer to obtain the turning factor for steering motion. Several waypoint-tracking experiments are carried out to verify effectiveness of the control system. The results show that the prototype can automatically reach the target area with the designed control system, even though the waypoints are arranged or randomly given.     

Mechanisms of vibration-induced interference with manual control performance

Abstract

An experiment is described in which eight subjects performed three simple tasks (A, B and C) in static conditions and during exposure to whole-body vertical (z-axis) vibration at 0-5 and 40 Hz, at an acceleration magnitude of 2-1 ms^-2 r.m.s. All subjects performed all conditions with and without an arm support. The objective was to explore the mechanisms that may cause disruption of manual control performance during vibration exposure. With task A subjects simply held a control with no visual feedback of activity at the control. With task B, subjects used the control to hold a controlled element stationary on a display. Task C was the same as task B, except that subjects had improved visual feedback of movement of the controlled element. Results showed that both 0-5 and 40 Hz vibration caused significant increases in control activity at frequencies of up to about 1 Hz compared with the condition without vibration. With visual feedback in task C, subjects were able to detect drifting of the controlled element on the display and introduced compensatory control activity at frequencies above about 0 2 Hz. The arm support reduced the magnitude of vibration transmitted to the control at 4-0 Hz, but did not otherwise change the results.     

牵引车–飞机系统的自适应滑模变结构控制

将自动转向技术应用于牵引车–飞机系统, 并以侧偏位移和相对横摆角作为反馈, 提出一种牵引车四轮主动转向控制策略. 重点考虑牵引车和飞机的侧向和横摆运动, 建立含铰接角在内的牵引车–飞机系统非线性动力学模型. 将牵引车和飞机的轮胎侧偏刚度视为有界的不确定性参数, 将侧向风等因素视为未知的外在扰动, 采用自适应滑模变结构控制方法设计牵引车转向角控制器. 仿真结果表明, 设计出的前、后轮转向控制器能使控制系统同时获得很好的轨迹跟踪性和操纵稳定性, 并且能够有效的克服参数摄动和外界干扰对系统操作性的影响.     

Variations in ATC-Work Load as a Function of Variations in Cockpit Workload

Abstract

The relation between pilots‘ workload and radar controllers‘ workload was investigated. Pilots‘ workload served as the independent variable. It was assumed that a number of levels of workload can be distinguished in a standard airport, traffic circuit under visual flight rules. The dependent variable (controllers’ workload) was measured by response frequency on an auditory binary choice task. Results indicate a rise in radar controllers’ workload in a predicted direction for a number of pilots’ workload levels.     

Equivalent comfort contours for vertical vibration of steering wheels: effect of vibration magnitude, grip force, and hand position

Vehicle drivers receive tactile feedback from steering-wheel vibration that depends on the frequency and magnitude of the vibration. From an experiment with 12 subjects, equivalent comfort contours were determined for vertical vibration of the hands at two positions with three grip forces. The perceived intensity of the vibration was determined using the method of magnitude estimation over a range of frequencies (4-250 Hz) and magnitudes (0.1-1.58 ms⁻² r.m.s.). Absolute thresholds for vibration perception were also determined for the two hand positions over the same frequency range. The shapes of the comfort contours were strongly dependent on vibration magnitude and also influenced by grip force, indicating that the appropriate frequency weighting depends on vibration magnitude and grip force. There was only a small effect of hand position. The findings are explained by characteristics of the Pacinian and non-Pacinian tactile channels in the glabrous skin of the hand.     

Examining endplate fatigue failure during cyclic compression loading with variable and consistent peak magnitudes using a force weighting adjustment approach: an in vitro study

Abstract

Repetitive movement is common in many occupational contexts. Therefore, cumulative load is a widely recognised risk factor for lowback injury. This study quantified the effect of force weighting factors on cumulative load estimates and injury prediction during cyclic loading. Forty-eight porcine cervical spine motion segments were assigned to experimental groups that differed by average peak compression magnitude (30%, 50% and 70% of predicted tolerance) and amplitude variation (consistent, variable). Cyclic loading was performed at a frequency of 0.5?Hz until fatigue failure occurred. Weighting factors were determined and applied instantaneously. Inclusion of weighting factors resulted in statistically similar cumulative load estimates at injury between variable and consistent loading (p?>?.071). Further, survivorship was generally greater when the peak compression magnitude was consistent compared to variable. These results emphasise the importance of weighting factors as an equalisation tool for the evaluation of cumulative low back loading exposures in occupational contexts.

Practitioner summary: Weighting factors can equalise the risk of injury based on compression magnitude. When weighted, the cumulative compression was similar between consistent and variable cyclic loading protocols, despite being significantly different when unweighted and having similar injury rates. Therefore, assessing representative occupational exposures without evaluating task performance variability may underestimate injury risk.

Abbreviations: FSU: functional spinal unit; UCT: ultimate compression tolerance     

The Role of Visual Feedback and Age When Grasping,Transferring and Passing Objects in Virtual Environments

ABSTRACT

Visual feedback about one’s own movements can be important for effective performance in natural and computer-generated environments. Previous work suggested that, for young adults, performance in virtual environments was influenced by the presence of a crude representation of the hand in a task-specific fashion. The current study was performed to determine whether this pattern of results holds across the lifespan. Specifically, we were interested in determining whether a representation of the hand is useful for movement performance in children, middle adults, and older adults when they reach to grasp an object, transfer it between their two hands, or receive it from a partner. Surprisingly, visual feedback condition had very little effect on performance in the current experiment, with the exception that participants in all three age groups altered how wide they opened their hand when grasping depending on visual condition. Patterns of reach and grasp performance changed across task depending on age, with older adults displaying different patterns than children and middle-aged adults. These results suggest that feedforward planning and the use of feedback are modulated by both age and task.     

Effects of vision and friction on haptic perception

OBJECTIVE: Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of vision and masking friction on contact perception and compliance differentiation thresholds in a simulated tissue-probing task. BACKGROUND: In minimally invasive surgery, the surgeon receives limited haptic feedback because of the current design of the instrumentation and relies on visual feedback to judge the amount of force applied to the tissues. It is suggested that friction forces inherent in the instruments contribute to errors in surgeons' haptic perception. This paper investigated the psychophysics of contact detection and cross-modal sensory processing in the context of minimally invasive surgery. METHOD: A within-subjects repeated measures design was used, with friction, vision, tissue softness, and order of presentation as independent factors, and applied force, detection time, error, and confidence as dependent measures. Eight participants took part in each experiment, with data recorded by a custom force-sensing system. RESULTS: In both detection and differentiation tasks, higher thresholds, longer detection times, and more errors were observed when vision was not available. The effect was more pronounced when haptic feedback was masked by friction forces in the surgical device (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Visual and haptic feedback were equally important for tissue compliance differentiation. APPLICATION: A frictionless endoscopic instrument can be designed to restore critical haptic information to surgeons without having to create haptic feedback artificially.     

Attitude manoeuvre of spacecraft with long cantilever beam appendage by momentum wheel

Attitude manoeuvre of spacecraft with a long cantilever beam appendage by momentum wheel is studied. The dynamics equation of the main body is derived by conservation of angular momentum. The dynamics equation of the appendage is derived by force equilibrium principle. Two feedback control strategies of the momentum wheel are applied for the attitude manoeuvre of the main body. The lateral vibration of the appendage is suppressed by active control in proportion to its lateral displacement and velocity. The variation of residual nutation angle of the spacecraft or the residual transversal angular velocity of the main body in the manoeuvre process is researched with changes of steady state time of the manoeuvre, appendage parameters, control parameters on the appendage and appendage location. In addition, spacecraft response is researched when there are no active controls on the appendage.     

舵机负载模拟系统前馈补偿控制研究

舵机负载模拟系统的主要任务是对舵机的力矩负载特性、最大承载能力等参数或特性进行检测,但由于这种系统通常是不稳定的发散系统,系统的不稳定特性直接影响舵机的性能检测精度.为克服此类问题对工程应用的不良影响,提出采用微分负反馈方法来解决负载模拟器的发散问题.同时,针对舵机运动速度分量引起的多余力问题,设计了舵机运动速度前馈补偿的控制算法.基于Matlab进行了控制系统仿真验证,对加入补偿算法前后系统对自然正弦指令信号的力矩响应幅值和相位差值进行了对比,分析了加入校正环节对系统误差的改善情况.仿真和实验结果表明,该方法在工程领域常见工况下具有较好的力矩跟踪性能,能够有效地测试舵机的承载性能.     

基于阿克曼原理的4WID/4WIS汽车循迹控制研究

针对四轮独立驱动、独立转向汽车循迹控制精度和转向稳定性兼容问题,同时考虑减小轮胎磨损,延长轮胎使用寿命,本文基于阿克曼转向原理和RBF神经网络PID理论,提出了一种自适应的循迹控制方法.首先,设计了基于RBF神经网络PID理论的自适应转向控制器,用于控制前内轮转角,保证循迹精度;其次,后内轮以减小质心侧偏角为目标进行辅助转向,保证转向稳定性;接着,基于阿克曼转向原理,确定外轮转角,保证各轮侧偏力分配合理;最后,采用同一瞬心法,确定各车轮转速,以减小轮胎滑动率.本文搭建了CarSim和MATLAB/Simulink联合仿真平台,进行了仿真实验,结果表明：本文提出的循迹控制方法,不仅能获得较小的循迹偏差和质心侧偏角,保证了足够的循迹控制精度和转向稳定性,同时还减小了轮胎滑动率,有利于减小轮胎的磨耗.     

Motor performance patterns between unilateral mechanical assistance and bilateral muscle contraction

Motor performance patterns for mechanical assistance on unilateral force control can be affected by simultaneous muscle contraction. This study investigated how muscle activity and motor performance during the cooperation between dominant-arm force control and assistive force are affected by simultaneous non-dominant arm muscle contraction with inertial loading. Eleven participants (age: 24.1 ± 1.7 years) performed trajectory-tracking task based on visual feedback of real-time isometric force control. Their force for dominant-arm elbow flexion was released from reference magnitude of 47 N to magnitude of 23.5 N by providing mechanical assistance of a linear actuator. A 47 N of inertial loading on non-dominant arm elbow flexion was conditionally provided. For four time epochs of the experimental task, we measured responses of the assisted arm in terms of: (1) surface electromyography (EMG) amplitudes of biceps brachii and triceps brachii muscles, (2) peak perturbation, and (3) motor performance of force variability and target overshoot during manual force output. Simultaneous loading on unassisted arm did not affect peak perturbation of assisted arm. However, it caused lower force variability and overshoot ratio during the time epoch of force release and higher EMG amplitudes of biceps brachii muscle during the time epochs after mechanical assistance is provided, compared to the non-loaded condition. Our results indicate that simultaneous muscle contraction affects unilateral force control with mechanical assistance aimed at enhancing motor performance by creating extra agonist muscle activity. These findings can be utilized for improving the performance of human-robot cooperation during manual material handling in many industrial sites.     

Effects of haptic feedback,stereoscopy, and image resolution on performance and presence in remote navigation

Traditionally, the main goal of teleoperation has been to successfully achieve a given task as if performing the task in local space. An emerging and related requirement is to also match the subjective sensation or the user experience of the remote environment, while maintaining reasonable task performance. This concept is often called “presence” or “(experiential) telepresence,” which is informally defined as “the sense of being in a mediated environment.” In this paper, haptic feedback is considered as an important element for providing improved presence and reasonable task performance in remote navigation. An approach for using haptic information to “experientially” teleoperate a mobile robot is described. Haptic feedback is computed from the range information obtained by a sonar array attached to the robot, and delivered to a user's hand via a haptic probe. This haptic feedback is provided to the user, in addition to stereoscopic images from a forward-facing stereo camera mounted on the mobile robot. The experiment with a user population in a real-world environment showed that haptic feedback significantly improved both task performance and user-felt presence. When considering user-felt presence, no interaction among haptic feedback, image resolution, and stereoscopy was observed, that is, haptic feedback was effective, regardless of the fidelity of visual elements. Stereoscopic images also significantly improved both task performance and user-felt presence, but high-resolution images only significantly improved user-felt presence. When considering task performance, however, it was found that there was an interaction between haptic feedback and stereoscopy, that is, stereoscopic images were only effective when no force feedback was applied. According to the multiple regression analysis, haptic feedback was a higher contributing factor to the improvement in performance and presence than image resolution and stereoscopy.     

Usability of optically simulated haptic feedback

In this contribution a method will be described to optically simulate haptic feedback without resorting to mechanical force feedback devices. This method exploits the domination of the visual over the haptic modality. The perception of haptic feedback, usually generated by force feedback devices, was simulated by tiny displacements on the cursor position relative to the intended force. The usability of optically simulated haptic feedback (OSHF) was tested experimentally by measuring effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of its users in a Fitts’ type target-acquisition task and comparing the results with the usability of mechanically simulated force feedback and normal feedback. Results show that OSHF outperforms mechanically simulated haptic feedback and normal feedback, especially in the case of small targets.     

The Effect of a Horizontally Structured Field and Target Brightness on Visual Search and Detection Times

Abstract

An experiment was performed in which detection, times were compared for free and systematic search for a small visual target. Three different levels of target brightness were employed. The systematic search pattern consisted of a horizontal zig-zag between pairs of lines drawn on the visual field. The major findings were (1) that the systematic search and structured visual field only reduced the detection times of low contrast targets, and (2) that target contrast was an important variable independent of the condition of the visual field and the search instructions used. Subsequent analysis of the data revealed that the systematic search results could not be explained in terms of an increased uniformity of coverage of the visual field.     

Disturbance Observer Based Control for Four Wheel Steering Vehicles With Model Reference

This paper presents a disturbance observer based control strategy for four wheel steering systems in order to improve vehicle handling stability. By combination of feedforward control and feedback control, the front and rear wheel steering angles are controlled simultaneously to follow both the desired sideslip angle and the yaw rate of the reference vehicle model. A nonlinear three degree-of-freedom four wheel steering vehicle model containing lateral, yaw and roll motions is built up, which also takes the dynamic effects of crosswind into consideration. The disturbance observer based control method is provided to cope with ignored nonlinear dynamics and to handle exogenous disturbances. Finally, a simulation experiment is carried out, which shows that the proposed four wheel steering vehicle can guarantee handling stability and present strong robustness against external disturbances.      

Determination of comfortable position for tractor Driver's hands based on dynamic load

Disorders in the musculoskeletal system are currently the most common illnesses reported by physical workers. This paper presents the possibility of improving safety conditions for vehicle and machine operators by the adjustment of a steering panel to their individual anthropometric features. These results can be used in the workstation-designing phase. When driving a tractor for a long time, the position of the human body influences the working comfort and can lead to disorders. To assess the working comfort on a mobile workstation as well as a farm tractor, surface electromyography was used. Based on the given parameter maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), the lowest workload for the forearm, arm and wrist was determined, considering the position of the steering column and the angle between arm and forearm (elbow angle). Experimental tests showed that the most comfortable position for a driver's hands was recorded when the tested elbow angle was 100°, as well as when the inclination angle of the steering column against the horizontal plane was approximately 50°. In this study, the MVC parameter was determined on the basis of muscle tension amplitude related to the maximum muscle isometric contraction. Based on this parameter, the percentage of developed force of tested muscle in relation to its maximum force-generating capabilities was described. This approach helped to define a relationship between human body position and generated load in human muscles.