A General Purpose Electromechanical Simulator for Switches Used in the Rehabilitation of Communication-Impaired People
|
| Title | A General Purpose Electromechanical Simulator for Switches Used in the Rehabilitation of Communication-Impaired People |
| Authors | |
| Abstract | The importance of simple mechanical switches in rehabilitation cannot be overstated, particularly in the facilitation of communication and control by people with profound physical disabilities. Many communication and control systems are designed to be operable using a single switch (or a small number of switches). A crucial step in the tailoring of a system to a patient who will operate it in this way is the selection of an appropriate switch, according to their physical abilities. We present a prototype switch simulator, capable of reproducing various types of switching action under computer control. This electromechanical device exhibits a force versus displacement characteristic (possibly incorporating hysteresis) selected by the user on the PC. In this way, the suitability of a variety of switching actions for a patient can be assessed, and the optimal choice identified. Furthermore, for patients with very particular needs, this device can implement switching actions which are difficult or impossible to reproduce in a passive mechanical switch. |
| Publisher | Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
| Date | 2011-07-07 |
| Source | Advances in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Vol 3, No 2 (2004): June |
| Rights | Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the works authorship and initial publication in this journal.Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journals published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). |