Study on play specific to the saddle type interface for personal mobility

Abstract

The saddle type human body movement interface uses not only translational movements but also a twisting movement for controlling a personal mobility. The saddle is mounted on a personal mobility through a universal joint having 3 axes, and follows human body movement. One axis following the body movement on forward/backward is used for making the control input (velocity) of a personal mobility. And two axes on translational right/left and twisting right/left are used for making the control input of angular velocity. For making these control inputs, appropriate plays on each axis should be considered, because play of an interface absorbs low precise and small human movement in order not to reflect these movement to a machine's movement for providing high usability. This paper, therefore, experimentally investigates typical ranges of play (software backlash) on the saddle type interface, and implements them into the control scheme for the personal mobility, and evaluate it.