Mind the gap: Working on wireless solutions

Resources Sharing and Access Control in Group-oriented Networks: Fednet and Related Paradigms

A Personal Network (PN) is a network composed of devices of a person that can communicate with each other independently from their geographical location. Extra functionality in PNs enables the cooperation amongst different persons forming a group-oriented network called a Federation of Personal Networks (Fednet). A Fednet is a secure,...

Hands-on experience of manual control in a human-machine systems engineering course

This paper presents the results of integrating hands-on experience in an engineering MSc course on human-machine systems. Students could voluntarily complete a homework assignment in which they performed manual control tasks using dedicated software. The tasks were accompanied by questions that students had to answer using the theory taught in...

Left turn gap acceptance in a simulator: Driving skill or driving style?

This paper describes two driving simulator experiments on left turn gap acceptance at intersections. In the first experiment, participants (N = 24) had to turn left at 25 intersections and cross an approaching traffic stream of 25 equally-spaced vehicles, with a different combination of intervehicle gap time and approach speed at each...

An analysis of braking measures

Braking to a full stop at a prescribed target position is a driving manoeuvre regularly used in experiments to investigate driving behaviour or to test vehicle acceleration feedback systems in simulators. Many different performance measures have been reported in the literature for analysing braking. These may or may not be useful to analyse the...

Modeling and simulation of kite power systems

On the way to pole position: The effect of tire grip on learning to drive a racecar

Racecar drivers could benefit from new training methods for learning to drive fast lap times. Inspired by the learning-from-errors principle, this simulator-based study investigated the effect of the tire-road friction coefficient on the training effectiveness of a car racing task. Three groups of 15 inexperienced racecar drivers (low grip (LG),...

Skill acquisition of manual wheelchair propulsion: Initial motor learning

Changes in propulsion technique due to motor learning might account for a higher mechanical efficiency (ME, the ratio of internal power over external power). The changes in ME and propulsion technique were studied in a learning experiment, three times a week for eight minutes, with nine able-bodied subjects, simulating early rehabilitation....

Variability in bimanual wheelchair propulsion: Consistency of two instrumented wheels during handrim wheelchair propulsion on a motor driven treadmill

Background Handrim wheelchair propulsion is a complex bimanual motor task. The bimanually applied forces on the rims determine the speed and direction of locomotion. Measurements of forces and torques on the handrim are important to study status and change of propulsion technique (and consequently mechanical strain) due to processes of learning,...

Exploiting the possibilities of simulators for driver training

Training in a simulator offers potential advantages compared to training in a non-simulated environment. Generally it is cheaper, safer, there is more control over the environment, and data collection is less complicated. These potential advantages give simulators the possibility to offer effective training. This thesis is divided into three...

Inter-individual differences in the initial 80 minutes of motor learning of handrim wheelchair propulsion

Handrim wheelchair propulsion is a cyclic skill that needs to be learned during rehabilitation. Yet it is unclear how interindividual differences in motor learning impact wheelchair propulsion practice. Therefore we studied how early-identified motor learning styles in novice able-bodied participants impact the outcome of a low-intensity...

Wheelchair-specific fitness of inactive people with long-term spinal cord injury

Objectives: To describe wheelchair-specific anaerobic work capacity, isometric strength and peak aerobic work capacity of physically inactive people with long-term spinal cord injury using outcomes of tests that are feasible for use in rehabilitation centres, and to determine associations among these fitness components. Design: Cross-sectional...

Early motor learning changes in upper-limb dynamics and shoulder complex loading during handrim wheelchair propulsion

Background To propel in an energy-efficient manner, handrim wheelchair users must learn to control the bimanually applied forces onto the rims, preserving both speed and direction of locomotion. Previous studies have found an increase in mechanical efficiency due to motor learning associated with changes in propulsion technique, but it is...

Differences between racing and non-racing drivers: A simulator study using eye-tracking

Motorsport has developed into a professional international competition. However, limited research is available on the perceptual and cognitive skills of racing drivers. By means of a racing simulator, we compared the driving performance of seven racing drivers with ten non-racing drivers. Participants were tasked to drive the fastest possible...