• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.197-204
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to evaluate driving performance of normal subjects for controlling the steering wheel by using foot operated steering devices in the driving simulator. Many people with complete bilateral loss or loss of use of upper limbs but with normal lower limbs are frequently left without use and/ or control of their hands, arms, or the upper extremities of their bodies. As a result, persons disabled in this manner have problems in operation an automobile because they cannot grasp and manipulate a conventional steering wheel. Therefore, if foot operated steering devices are used for controlling the vehicle on in people with disabilities, the disabled people could improve their community mobility by driving a car safely. Ten normal subjects were involved in this research to evaluate steering performance by using three types of steering devices(conventional steering wheel, pedal type foot steering, circular type foot steering) in driving simulator. STISim Drive 3 program was used for testing the driving performance in two road scenarios: straight road and curved road at low and high speed of vehicle (40 km/h and 80 km/h). This study used two-way ANOVA to compare the influences of two factors(type of foot steering device and road scenario) in the three dependent variables of steering performance(standard deviation of lateral position, the lateral position of vehicle and the number of line crossing). The average values of the three dependent variables(standard deviation of lateral position, lateral position and the number of line crossing) of driving performance were significantly smaller for conventional steering wheel or pedal type foot steering than circular type foot steering.