Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Systems Engineering

First Advisor

Jiang, Steven

Abstract

Since the 1940s, fluid power has been used effectively in combination with other technologies to provide power in the form of hydraulics or pneumatics for a variety of industries. One such machinery is the excavator. Although the excavator is widely used in industry, numerous design constraints make the interface less intuitive, resulting in long operator training and high cost. Further, traditional excavator-operator interfaces rely mainly on visual and to some extent auditory senses. This often leads to cognitive overload with its negative effect on performance. A haptic-controlled excavator interface has been proposed as an alternative to the traditional excavator interface. The goal of this research is to develop a human-excavator interface for the haptic-controlled excavator that makes use of the multiple human sensing modalities (visual, auditory haptic), and efficiently integrates these modalities to ensure intuitive, efficient interface that is easy to learn and use, and is responsive to operator commands. Two empirical studies were conducted to investigate conflict in the haptic-controlled excavator interface and identify the level of force feedback for best operator performance. A quantitative model of human interaction with haptic-controlled excavator was developed. Design recommendations to improve the existing haptic-controlled excavator interface were identified using interface design guidelines. Finally, an evaluation of the modified haptic-controlled excavator interface was conducted to assess operator performance and to identify potential usability problems.

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