Ensuring safety remains one of the biggest challenges for the widespread adoption of automated vehicles (AVs). Remote operation of AVs is a promising approach to address this, allowing remote operators to intervene when AVs encounter edge cases. However, remote operators are out-of-the-loop from the conventional driver in vehicle environment interaction, impacting their situation awareness and ability to safely control or assist the vehicle. In the scenario of remote driving, this is more evident since multimodal feedback is required to replicate the conventional driver-vehicle environment-interaction. In addition to visual and auditory modalities, motion feedback has been proposed as a way to bridge the gap between remote driving and in-vehicle driving. However, since motion feedback is cost-intensive, it might hinder rapid upscaling of remote driving systems. Thus, this study evaluated whether motion feedback adds value to driving performance and experience of the remote operator in low-velocity scenarios. Driving performance and experience were assessed and compared using objective and subjective metrics in three conditions (in-vehicle driving, and remote driving with and without motion feedback). The findings show that in remote driving, motion feedback fails to provide significant improvements. When compared to in-vehicle driving, remote driving performance and experience remain significantly worse. This suggests that motion feedback, in its current form, is redundant in low-velocity scenarios and that a simplified Remote Driving Station (RDS) may be sufficient in these scenarios. Future work should optimize simplified RDS designs, enhance feedback and human-machine interfaces and explore different driving scenarios for safe and efficient remote driving. ... Read more

Traditional wheelchairs are pushed from behind the occupant, which hinders eye contact and communication. It was proposed that the wheelchair be pushed from the side using a push bar to place the caregiver beside the occupant. However, this method requires the caregiver to exert continuous effort to maintain a straight trajectory because the force at the lateral push location generates a moment. This study explores simple modifications to the front castor wheel of the wheelchair that allow pushing it from the side without additional effort. We used a three-dimensional dynamic model of the castor wheel to predict the effects of altering its dimensions and rake, cant, and bank angle and present a simplified steady-state solution. Experimental results support the model’s predictions, and a proof-of-concept experiment with a wheelchair showed that it is possible to push a wheelchair from the side without increasing forces or moments. The results also confirmed that the lateral ground reaction force generated on the castor wheel is proportional to the normal force and the cant angle, which can counter the moment caused by the lateral push location. The implications of this model extend beyond wheelchair design and can be applied to other applications that use castor wheels, such as robotics, trolleys, and walkers. ... Read more