Design and Evaluation of a Novel Haptic Interface for Horse-Drawn Carriage Simulation

Animal welfare has become an increasingly important concern in the sports field. Learning horse-drawn carriage driving requires much time and effort for both the drivers and the horses because the associated gestures to avoid harming the horses are difficult to acquire. This raises the need to develop realistic simulation environments for future drivers. To this end, two haptic interface prototypes were designed, coupled with dedicated simulation software. The first was developed based on a SPIDAR haptic device and implemented simple behaviors of the carriage. A user study demonstrated interest in such a simulator, which led to the design of a second prototype, on a different architecture than the first prototype, for integrating more precise laws of horse behavior such as mood and allowing a more subtle control of forces. An evaluation with driving learners revealed that the simulator was capable of not only producing sensations close to reality but also improving the interaction between the trainer and the learner.This work was supported by the Ifce and SAHn under grant no. 2016-17-007

Physical Activity and the Health of Wheelchair Users: A Systematic Review in Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, and Spinal Cord Injury

Objective To understand the benefits and harms of physical activity in people who may require a wheelchair with a focus on people with multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy (CP), and spinal cord injury (SCI). Data Sources Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Embase (January 2008 through November 2020). Study Selection Randomized controlled trials, nonrandomized trials, and cohort studies of observed physical activity (at least 10 sessions on 10 days) in participants with MS, CP, and SCI. Data Extraction We conducted dual data abstraction, quality assessment, and strength of evidence. Measures of physical functioning are reported individually where sufficient data exist and grouped as “function” where data are scant. Data Synthesis No studies provided evidence for prevention of cardiovascular conditions, development of diabetes, or obesity. Among 168 included studies, 44% enrolled participants with MS (38% CP, 18% SCI). Studies in MS found walking ability may be improved with treadmill training and multimodal exercises; function may be improved with treadmill, balance exercises, and motion gaming; balance is likely improved with balance exercises and may be improved with aquatic exercises, robot-assisted gait training (RAGT), motion gaming, and multimodal exercises; activities of daily living (ADL), female sexual function, and spasticity may be improved with aquatic therapy; sleep may be improved with aerobic exercises and aerobic fitness with multimodal exercises. In CP, balance may be improved with hippotherapy and motion gaming; function may be improved with cycling, treadmill, and hippotherapy. In SCI, ADL may be improved with RAGT. Conclusions Depending on population and type of exercise, physical activity was associated with improvements in walking, function, balance, depression, sleep, ADL, spasticity, female sexual function, and aerobic capacity. Few harms of physical activity were reported in studies. Future studies are needed to address evidence gaps and to confirm findings

Auf ein Pferd sitzen kann jeder – korrekt allerdings nicht : eine Analyse der Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Reitersitz, der Reitperformance und der Kraft sowie der Beweglichkeit im Beckenbereich von Amateur-Reiterinnen

Hintergrund: Voraussetzung für eine gute Reitperformance ist gemäss zitierter Literatur ein korrekter Reitersitz. Das Becken der Reitenden spielt dabei eine zentrale Rolle, weil es die Bewegungen des Pferdes aufnimmt und auf die anderen Körperabschnitte überträgt. Zielsetzung: Es soll erstens herausgefunden werden, wie stark der Reitersitz mit der Reitperformance korreliert. Zweitens sollen die Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Reitersitz und der Kraft im Beckenbereich sowie dem Reitersitz und der Beweglichkeit im Beckenbereich eruiert werden. Methode: Mit den Daten einer Schweizer Übersichtsstudie wurden die folgenden Korrelationen berechnet: a. zwischen dem Sitz der Reitenden (Sitznote 0-10) und ihrer Reitperformance (Reitprüfungsnote 0-400), b. zwischen dem Sitz der Reitenden und ihrer Kraft im Beckenbereich (Hüftflexoren, Hüftextensoren, Hüftadduktoren, Hüftabduktoren, Rumpfflexoren, Rumpfextensoren) c. zwischen dem Sitz der Reitenden und ihrer Beweglichkeit im Beckenbereich (Hüftflexion, Hüftextension, Hüftabduktion, Hüftinnenrotation, Hüftaussenrotation). Relevante Ergebnisse: Die Auswertung der Daten (N = 159, weiblich, Durchschnittsalter 36 Jahre) ergab einen statistisch signifikanten und stark positiven Zusammenhang zwischen dem Sitz und der Reitperformance (r = 0.96, p 0.05). Schlussfolgerung: Die Ergebnisse bestätigen die grundlegende Bedeutung des Reitersitzes für die Reitperformance. Eine wichtige Voraussetzung für den Reitersitz scheint die Kraft im Beckenbereich zu sein. Die Frage, welche Rolle die Beweglichkeit im Beckenbereich für den Reitersitz spielt, bleibt offen. Background: According to the literature cited, a correct riding position is crucial for a decent riding performance. The rider's pelvis plays an important role since it absorbs the horse's movements and transmits them to the other parts of the body. Objectives: Firstly, to find out how strongly the rider's seat correlates with riding performance. Secondly, to determine the correlation between the rider's seat and the strength in the pelvic region as well as the correlation between the rider's seat and the flexibility in the pelvic region. Method: Using data from a Swiss survey, the following correlations were calculated: a. between the riders' seat (seat score 0-10) and their riding performance (riding test score 0-400), b. between the riders' seat and their strength in the pelvic region (hip extensors, hip flexors, hip abductors, hip adductors, trunk extensors, trunk flexors) c. between the riders' seat and their flexibility in the pelvic region (hip extension, hip flexion, hip abduction, hip external rotation, hip internal rotation). Results: The analysis of the data (N = 159, female, average age 36 years) revealed a statistically significant and strong positive correlation between rider’s seat and riding performance (r = 0.96, p 0.05). Conclusion: The results confirm the fundamental importance of the rider's seat for riding performance. Strength in the pelvic region seems to be an important prerequisite for the rider's seat. The question of what role pelvic flexibility plays in the rider's seat remains to be discussed

Shared control strategies for automated vehicles

188 p.Los vehículos automatizados (AVs) han surgido como una solución tecnológica para compensar las deficiencias de la conducción manual. Sin embargo, esta tecnología aún no está lo suficientemente madura para reemplazar completamente al conductor, ya que esto plantea problemas técnicos, sociales y legales. Sin embargo, los accidentes siguen ocurriendo y se necesitan nuevas soluciones tecnológicas para mejorar la seguridad vial. En este contexto, el enfoque de control compartido, en el que el conductor permanece en el bucle de control y, junto con la automatización, forma un equipo bien coordinado que colabora continuamente en los niveles táctico y de control de la tarea de conducción, es una solución prometedora para mejorar el rendimiento de la conducción manual aprovechando los últimos avances en tecnología de conducción automatizada. Esta estrategia tiene como objetivo promover el desarrollo de sistemas de asistencia al conductor más avanzados y con mayor grade de cooperatición en comparación con los disponibles en los vehículos comerciales. En este sentido, los vehículos automatizados serán los supervisores que necesitan los conductores, y no al revés. La presente tesis aborda en profundidad el tema del control compartido en vehículos automatizados, tanto desde una perspectiva teórica como práctica. En primer lugar, se proporciona una revisión exhaustiva del estado del arte para brindar una descripción general de los conceptos y aplicaciones en los que los investigadores han estado trabajando durante lasúltimas dos décadas. Luego, se adopta un enfoque práctico mediante el desarrollo de un controlador para ayudar al conductor en el control lateral del vehículo. Este controlador y su sistema de toma de decisiones asociado (Módulo de Arbitraje) se integrarán en el marco general de conducción automatizada y se validarán en una plataforma de simulación con conductores reales. Finalmente, el controlador desarrollado se aplica a dos sistemas. El primero para asistir a un conductor distraído y el otro en la implementación de una función de seguridad para realizar maniobras de adelantamiento en carreteras de doble sentido. Al finalizar, se presentan las conclusiones más relevantes y las perspectivas de investigación futuras para el control compartido en la conducción automatizada

Appearance Modelling and Reconstruction for Navigation in Minimally Invasive Surgery

Minimally invasive surgery is playing an increasingly important role for patient care. Whilst its direct patient benefit in terms of reduced trauma, improved recovery and shortened hospitalisation has been well established, there is a sustained need for improved training of the existing procedures and the development of new smart instruments to tackle the issue of visualisation, ergonomic control, haptic and tactile feedback. For endoscopic intervention, the small field of view in the presence of a complex anatomy can easily introduce disorientation to the operator as the tortuous access pathway is not always easy to predict and control with standard endoscopes. Effective training through simulation devices, based on either virtual reality or mixed-reality simulators, can help to improve the spatial awareness, consistency and safety of these procedures. This thesis examines the use of endoscopic videos for both simulation and navigation purposes. More specifically, it addresses the challenging problem of how to build high-fidelity subject-specific simulation environments for improved training and skills assessment. Issues related to mesh parameterisation and texture blending are investigated. With the maturity of computer vision in terms of both 3D shape reconstruction and localisation and mapping, vision-based techniques have enjoyed significant interest in recent years for surgical navigation. The thesis also tackles the problem of how to use vision-based techniques for providing a detailed 3D map and dynamically expanded field of view to improve spatial awareness and avoid operator disorientation. The key advantage of this approach is that it does not require additional hardware, and thus introduces minimal interference to the existing surgical workflow. The derived 3D map can be effectively integrated with pre-operative data, allowing both global and local 3D navigation by taking into account tissue structural and appearance changes. Both simulation and laboratory-based experiments are conducted throughout this research to assess the practical value of the method proposed

Development of an automated steering system for shared control applications

Shared control techniques for Automated Driving require high-quality equipment to step up from hardware-in-the-loop simulations to real applications. Nevertheless, not every car used nowadays for Automated Driving research has a suitable steering system. This project develops a fast, reliable, and efficient two-way low-level controller of a power steering, focusing on its application in torque and position control. Hence, following this methodology, not only shared control techniques are enabled by the torque control, but also fully automated vehicles can benefit from the position control.Las técnicas de control compartido para la conducción automatizada requieren equipos de alta calidad para pasar de simulación hardware-in-the-loop a aplicaciones reales. Sin embargo, no todos los coches utilizados hoy en día para la investigación de la conducción automatizada cuentan con un sistema de dirección adecuado. Este proyecto desarrolla controladores de bajo nivel, rápidos, fiables y eficientes de par y posición para una dirección asistida. De este modo y, siguiendo esta metodología, el control de par no sólo habilita las técnicas de control compartido, sino que también los vehículos totalmente automatizados pueden beneficiarse gracias al control de posición.Gidatze automatizaturako kontrol partekatuko teknikek kalitate handiko ekipamendua behar dute hardware-in-the-loop simulaziotik benetako aplikazioetara pasatzeko. Hala ere, gaur egun gidatze automatizatua ikertzeko erabiltzen diren auto guztiek ez dute direkzio-sistema egoki bat. Proiektu honek maila baxuko kontrolatzaileak garatzen ditu, azkarrak, fidagarriak eta pare eta posizio-eraginkorrak, lagunduriko direkzio baterako. Horrela, eta metodologia horri jarraiki, pare-kontrolak kontrol partekatuko teknikak gaitzen ditu. Gainera, automatizatutako ibilgailuek posizio-kontrolaren abantailak ere erabil ditzakete