JP2014041313A - Electric wheelchair driver evaluation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a burden on a driver of a handle type electric wheelchair without the need for the driver to actually drive on a road in performing driving evaluation of the driver.SOLUTION: A display control unit 11 controls a touch panel type display 7 to display a predetermined image on the touch panel type display 7. A position detection unit 12 detects a position touched on the touch panel type display 7. An evaluation unit 13 evaluates driving ability of a target driver on the basis of the touch position on the touch panel type display 7 detected by the position detection unit 12 according to the image displayed on the touch panel type display 7. An electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 is portable.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus that evaluates the driving ability of a driver of a handle type electric wheelchair.

Since driving licenses are not required for driving electric wheelchairs in Japan, the knowledge, experience, and driving skills of drivers are diverse. Therefore, it can be said that it is very meaningful to evaluate the driving ability of such a driver and to instruct the driver based on the evaluation result.
As a driving ability evaluation system for evaluating such driving ability, the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known.

The technique of Patent Literature 1 is for a driver to actually drive on a road and perform driving evaluation.
Moreover, the technique of patent document 2 is going to perform the driving | running evaluation of the test subject who operates a driving simulator using the driving operation state and simulated driving | running | working information which are obtained from a driving simulator.

JP 2008-90521 A JP 2008-58559 A

However, the technique of Patent Document 1 is that a driver actually travels on a road and performs driving evaluation, and the road is actually evaluated before driving ability is evaluated and the driver is instructed based on the evaluation result. Driving is not desirable.
Further, the technique of Patent Document 2 is to evaluate a driver using a driving simulator. Since the driving simulator is generally a large-sized device, the driver of the electric wheelchair goes to the installation location of the device. There is a need.

However, since the driver of an electric wheelchair is generally an elderly person, such movement may be a burden on the driver. Furthermore, since the driving ability of the driver decreases with aging, it is necessary to periodically perform such driving evaluation of the driver. For this reason, it is a heavy burden for an elderly driver to regularly visit the place where the above-described device is installed for driving evaluation.
An object of the present invention is to perform a driving evaluation of a driver of a handle type electric wheelchair without actually driving on a road and to reduce a burden on the driver.

  One aspect of the present invention is an electric wheelchair driver evaluation device that evaluates the driving ability of a driver of a handle-type electric wheelchair provided with a handle for steering a front wheel. A display control unit that controls the touch panel display so as to display a predetermined image, a position detection unit that detects a position touched on the touch panel display, and the touch control display by the display control unit. An evaluation unit that evaluates the driving ability based on a touch position on the touch panel display detected by the position detection unit according to a displayed image, and has portability. It is an electric wheelchair driver evaluation device.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, when performing a driving evaluation of a driver of a handle type electric wheelchair, it can be performed without actually traveling on the road, and the burden on the driver can be reduced.

It is a block diagram which shows the electrical connection of the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram explaining the outline | summary of the process which an electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus performs based on the program concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing modeled about the driving | running behavior of the driver | operator of an electric wheelchair. It is a flowchart which shows the evaluation process of the driving capability about the driver | operator of the electric wheelchair which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is explanatory drawing explaining the test of the divided attention ability which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is explanatory drawing explaining the test of the divided attention ability which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is a graph explaining the evaluation with respect to the test of the divided attention ability by the difference in the reaction time by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a graph explaining the evaluation with respect to the test of the divided attention ability by the error rate by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the test of the suppression function which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is explanatory drawing explaining the test of the suppression function which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is a graph explaining evaluation of the test of the suppression function by the difference in the reaction time by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the popping-out prediction of the intersection which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is explanatory drawing explaining the jumping-out prediction of the intersection in the test of the risk perception ability which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is explanatory drawing explaining the jumping-out prediction of the intersection in the test of the risk perception ability which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is a graph explaining evaluation of the popping-out prediction of the intersection by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the case of the pedestrian road in the test of the risk perception ability which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is explanatory drawing explaining the case of the pedestrian road in the test of the risk perception ability which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention performs. It is a graph explaining the evaluation in the case of a pedestrian road in the test of the risk perception ability by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view which looked at an example of a handle type electric wheelchair from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at an example of a handle type electric wheelchair from the back side.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Since this embodiment is a system for evaluating the driving ability of a driver of a handle type electric wheelchair, first, an outline of the handle type electric wheelchair will be described. FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an example of a handle type electric wheelchair as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the handle type electric wheelchair as viewed from the rear side. This handle-type electric wheelchair 101 is a single-seat vehicle in which a driver sits on a seat 102 and drives. The power source is a motor that is powered by the power of the rechargeable battery. The handle type electric wheelchair 101 is driven by driving the rear wheel 103 by this motor. The driver operates the steering handle 104 to steer the front wheels 105.

  Next, the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device will be described. This electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus is an apparatus for evaluating the driving ability of the driver of the handle type electric wheelchair 101 described above, for example. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection of the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1. In the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus 1, a CPU 2 that performs various calculations and centrally controls each unit and a RAM 3 that is a work area of the CPU 2 are connected by a bus 4. A magnetic storage device 6 and a touch panel display 7 are connected to the bus 4 via a predetermined interface 5.

  The magnetic storage device 6 stores a program (electric wheelchair driver evaluation program) 8 executed by the CPU 2. The program 8 is an application program or the like that operates on a predetermined OS (Operating System). The program 8 can be read in a storage medium such as an optical disk in advance by a reading device such as an optical disk device and stored in the magnetic storage device 6. Alternatively, the program 8 can be downloaded from the Internet or the like and stored in the magnetic storage device 6.

The touch panel display 7 includes a display and can display an image on the display. A touch panel is formed on the display, and when the user touches the touch panel, the coordinates of the touch position corresponding to the image on the display can be detected.
The electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 configured as described above is portable. Here, the “portability” means that the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 has a weight and size that can be carried by a general person relatively easily.
As the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus 1 as described above, for example, a so-called tablet PC can be used.

  Next, the content of the process which the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus 1 performs based on the program 8 is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining the outline of processing executed by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 based on the program 8. The electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 realizes the functions of the display control unit 11, the position detection unit 12, and the evaluation unit 13 based on the program 8. The display control unit 11 controls the touch panel display 7 so as to display a predetermined image on the touch panel display 7. The position detection unit 12 detects a position touched on the touch panel display 7. The evaluation unit 13 evaluates the driving ability of the target driver based on the touch position on the touch panel display 7 detected by the position detection unit 12 according to the image displayed on the touch panel display 7.

As described above, the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 performs the process of evaluating the driving ability of the driver of the handle type electric wheelchair by the processing executed by the display control unit 11, the position detection unit 12, and the evaluation unit 13. Hereinafter, this process will be described in detail.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram modeling the driving behavior of the driver of the electric wheelchair. As shown in the figure, the driver of the electric wheelchair performs recognition based on the current driving environment (driving environment 21). The recognition performed here includes hazard recognition 22 and risk recognition 23. For the hazard recognition 22, the driver needs to have a divided attention ability and a suppression function described later. For the risk recognition 23, the driver needs the risk perception ability described later. Then, based on the knowledge and experience from the recognition (determination 24), the electric wheelchair is operated (operation 25), and this operation is reflected in the behavior of the vehicle (behavior 26). The driving behavior of an electric wheelchair driver is a repetition of the above flow.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the driving ability evaluation process for the driver of the electric wheelchair performed by the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1. First, the CPU 2 of the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1 tests the divided attention ability for evaluating the ability of the driver to pay attention to a plurality of objects simultaneously (step S1). This tests for oversight of the driver's object. Next, a test is performed for a suppression function that is an ability of the driver to suppress unnecessary attention (step S2). This tests the driver's looking away. Subsequently, the driver tests the risk perception ability, which is the ability to predict the future state of the hazard and estimate the risk (step S3). This tests the driver's ability to predict danger. Finally, the evaluation results of the tests in steps S1 to S3 are displayed on the touch panel display 7 to inform the driver (step S4).

As described above, in the evaluation process of the driving ability for the driver of the electric wheelchair, the test is performed on the three items of the divided attention ability, the suppression function, and the risk perception ability. Hereinafter, the details of the test contents of each of these items will be described.
First, the divided attention ability test (step S1) will be described. The divided attention ability is an ability of the driver to pay attention to a plurality of subjects at the same time. First, a test under normal conditions is performed. As shown in FIG. 5, marks 32 are displayed at various positions on the screen 31 of the touch panel display 7 at intervals of, for example, 6 seconds. Then, the subject touches the position of each mark 32. The time from when each mark 32 is displayed until it is touched is counted and recorded. Further, if the touch is not made even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the mark 32 is displayed, an error is recorded.

  Following the test under the normal condition, the test under the attention split condition is performed. As shown in FIG. 6, as in the test under normal conditions, for example, the mark 32 is displayed at various positions on the screen 31 of the touch panel display 7 at intervals of 6 seconds, the subject is touched, and The time from when each mark 32 is displayed to when it is touched is counted and recorded. The same applies to the case where an error is recorded when the mark 32 is not touched even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the mark 32 was displayed. However, in the test under the attention division condition, a number 33 is randomly displayed at the center of the screen 31 at intervals of, for example, 1.2 seconds during the test, and the number is read by the subject. That is, the subject must touch the mark 32 while reading the number 33 one after another. Care must be taken to read out the number 33 one after another.

  Such a divided attention ability test is evaluated as follows. FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating an evaluation for a test of divided attention ability according to a difference in reaction time. In FIG. 7, the average reaction time in each of the test under the normal condition and the test under the attention division condition of each experimental collaborator of E2, E3, E5, E7, and E10 is shown. The average reaction time is an average value of the time from when the mark 32 appears on the screen 31 until it is touched in a plurality of tests in which each mark 32 is touched. Here, it can be seen that the experimental cooperators E2, E3, E5, and E10 increased the average reaction time in the test under the attention division condition as compared with the test under the normal condition. In such a case, it can be evaluated that the divided attention ability related to the reaction time is reduced (too much time).

  FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating the evaluation for the test of divided attention ability according to the error rate. FIG. 8 shows error rates in the tests under the normal conditions and the tests under the attention division condition for each of the experiment collaborators E2, E3, E5, E7, and E10. As described above, if no touch is made after a certain period of time has elapsed since the mark 32 is displayed, an error is recorded. The error rate is a percentage of the ratio of the number of times recorded as an error in each of the test under the normal condition and the test under the attention division condition. In the example of FIG. 8, for each experimental collaborator of E3 and E10, the error rate in the test under the attention division condition is greatly increased as compared with the test under the normal condition. In such a case, it can be evaluated that the divided attention ability related to the oversight is deteriorated (the oversight occurs).

In step 4 described above, graphs as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are displayed on the touch panel display 7 to the driver who performed the test, and the evaluation results as described above are transmitted on the screen or by voice.
Next, the suppression function test (step S2) will be described. The suppression function is the ability of the driver to suppress unnecessary attention, and the suppression function test is performed as follows. First, a test without disturbing stimuli is performed. As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of characters 41 are displayed on the screen 31 of the touch panel display 7. The C character 42 is searched from among them, and the direction of the C character 42 is determined. In other words, the C character 42 can be displayed in the correct orientation or in the opposite direction. When it is determined that the letter C is displayed in the correct orientation, the button 43 on the screen 31 is touched. When it is determined that the letter C is displayed in the opposite direction, the button 44 on the screen 31 is touched. The time from when the character 41 and the C character 42 are displayed on the screen 31 until the correct button 43 or 44 is touched is counted and recorded. A plurality of such tests are performed.

  Next, a test with disturbing stimuli is performed. As shown in FIG. 10, a C character 42 (in the opposite direction in the example of FIG. 10) is searched from among a plurality of characters 41 displayed on the screen 31, and the direction of the C character 42 is determined to determine the button 43. Or touching 44 is similar to the test without disturbing stimuli. Counting and recording the time from when the character 41 and the C character 42 are displayed on the screen 31 until the correct button 43 or 44 is touched, and performing multiple patterns are the same as in the test without disturbing stimulus. is there. The test with the disturbing stimulus is different from the test without the disturbing stimulus in that the T character 45 having the same color as the C character 42 is randomly displayed when the character 41 and the C character 42 are displayed on the screen 31. It is to display inside. The letter 45 of T is a disturbing stimulus.

  Such a suppression function test is evaluated as follows. FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating the evaluation of the suppression function test based on the difference in reaction time. In FIG. 11, the average reaction time in each test of E2, E3, E5, E7, and E10 in each experiment cooperator without the disturbing stimulus and the test with the disturbing stimulus is shown. The average reaction time is an average value in a plurality of test patterns of the time from when the character 41 and the C character 42 are displayed on the screen 31 until the correct button 43 or 44 is touched. FIG. 11 shows the average reaction times of the test without disturbing stimulus and the test with disturbing stimulus for each experimental collaborator. When the average reaction time is increased in the test with the disturbing stimulus as compared with the test without the disturbing stimulus, it is evaluated that the inhibitory function is lowered. In the example of FIG. 11, for the test participants of E2, E3, and E7, the test with the disturbing stimulus has an increased average reaction time compared with the test without the disturbing stimulus, so that the suppression function decreases. Assess that

In step 4 described above, a graph as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the touch panel display 7 to the driver who has performed the test, and the evaluation result as described above is transmitted on the screen or by voice.
Next, the risk perception ability test (step S3) will be described. The risk perception ability is the ability of the driver to estimate the risk by predicting the future state of the hazard, and the risk perception ability test is performed as follows. By displaying the driving image seen from the driver's seat while driving the electric wheelchair on the screen 31 of the touch panel display 7, the object on the image feels dangerous, or touches the object at a timing when you think that attention is required. Perform the test. In order to predict the future situation, a plurality of scenes such as a no-signal intersection with a blind spot and a scene of a sidewalk where a plurality of pedestrians exist are set, and for example, it is performed in about 15 seconds to 60 seconds per scene.

  A specific example will be described. 12-14 is explanatory drawing explaining the popping-out prediction of an intersection. 12 to 14 are images of intersection scenes, and moving image scenes proceed in the order of the figure numbers. There is an obstacle 51 at the intersection, and an image from which the bicycle 52 jumps out is displayed. The subject needs to touch the region 53. When the subject touches the area 53 in the scene of FIG. 12, it can be said that the bicycle 52 is predicted to jump out. It can be said that even when the region 53 is touched in the situation of FIG. 13 in which the time has advanced from the situation of FIG. On the other hand, when the area 53 is touched in the situation of FIG. 14 in which the time is further advanced than the situation of FIG.

  Evaluation of this intersection pop-out prediction test is performed as follows. Such a test is performed by setting a plurality of scenes, and it is determined whether or not the intersection jump-out was predicted. Then, the percentage of the number of intersections that can be predicted to jump out of a plurality of scenes is calculated as the blind spot detection rate. FIG. 15 is a graph showing the blind spot detection rate of each experimental collaborator of E2, E3, E5, E7, and E10. In this example, the experimental collaborator of E10 can evaluate that the blind spot detection rate is low and the blind spot cannot be predicted, and the risk perception ability is low.

  Another example will be described. 16 and 17 are explanatory diagrams for explaining a case of a pedestrian road. In the examples of FIGS. 16 and 17, a bicycle 61 and a motorcycle 62 that are heading here are displayed, and a pedestrian 63 crossing the road is displayed. The subject recognizes these hazards and touches them on the touch panel display 7. In the example of FIG. 16, only the bicycle 61 can be touched among the bicycle 61, the motorcycle 62, and the pedestrian 63, but in the example of FIG. 17, all of the bicycle 61, the motorcycle 62, and the pedestrian 63 can be touched. Therefore, it can be said that the example of FIG. 17 has a wider hazard prediction than the example of FIG. Such a test is conducted in multiple scenes.

Evaluation in this case is performed as follows. That is, hazard prediction as in the above example is performed in a plurality of scenes, and a value obtained by dividing the number of times the hazard prediction has been performed by the number of hazards is obtained as the average number of attentions. FIG. 18 is a graph showing the average number of times of attention of each experimental collaborator of E2, E3, E5, E7, and E10. In this example, it can be seen that the average number of attentions of the E3 experiment cooperators is high, the hazard is predicted over a wide range, and the risk perception ability is high.
In Step 4 described above, graphs as shown in FIGS. 15 and 18 are displayed on the touch panel display 7 to the driver who has performed the test, and the evaluation results as described above are transmitted on the screen or by voice.

According to the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus 1 described above, it is possible to evaluate the driving ability of the driver of the handle type electric wheelchair without actually traveling on the road. Moreover, since the electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus 1 has portability and can be brought to the driver's home and the like to perform driving evaluation at the home, the driver of the electric wheelchair is an elderly person or the like. The burden on the case can be reduced.
In addition, according to the electric wheelchair driver evaluation device 1, as described above, by testing the divided attention ability (step S1), the suppression function (step S2), and the risk perception ability (step S3), The driving ability of a wheelchair driver can be appropriately evaluated.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric wheelchair driver evaluation apparatus 7 Touch-panel display 8 Program 11 Display control part 12 Position detection part 13 Evaluation part

Claims (1)

An electric wheelchair driver evaluation device for evaluating the driving ability of a driver of a handle type electric wheelchair having a handle for steering a front wheel,
Touch panel display,
A display control unit that controls the touch panel display to display a predetermined image on the touch panel display;
A position detection unit for detecting a position touched on the touch panel display;
An evaluation unit that evaluates the driving ability based on a touch position on the touch panel display detected by the position detection unit according to an image displayed on the touch panel display by the display control unit;
With
Have portability,
Electric wheelchair driver evaluation device characterized by.

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