Browsing by Author "Sivakanthan, Sivashankar"

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    Accessible autonomous transportation and services: a focus group study
    (Taylor & Francis, 2023-08-07) Sivakanthan, Sivashankar; Cooper, Rosemarie; Lopes, Celia; Kulich, Hailee; Deepak, Nikitha; Lee, Chang Dae; Wang, Hongwu; Candiotti, Jorge L; Dicianno, Brad E; Koontz, Alicia; Cooper, Rory A
    Purpose: Existing automated vehicle transportation guidelines and regulations have minimal guidance to address the specific needs of people with disabilities. Accessibility should be at the forefront to increase autonomy and independence for people with disabilities. The purpose of this research is to better understand potential facilitators and barriers to using accessible autonomous transportation. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with key stakeholders derived from people with disabilities (n = 5), travel companions/caregivers (n = 5), and transportation experts or designers (n = 11). Results: The themes include describing stakeholder perceptions across all three groups by identified themes: autonomous vehicle assistive technology, autonomy vs automation, cost, infrastructure, safety & liability, design challenges, and potential impact. Conclusion: Specific gaps and needs were identified regarding barriers and facilitators for transportation accessibility and evidence-based guidance. These specific gaps can help to formulate design criteria for the communication between, the interior and exterior of accessible autonomous vehicles.
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    Understanding Travel Considerations and Barriers for People with Disabilities to Using Current Modes of Transportation Through Journey Mapping
    (Sage, 2023) Lee, Chang Dae; Koontz, Alicia M; Cooper, Rosemarie; Sivakanthan, Sivashankar; Chernicoff, William; Brunswick, Allison; Deepak, Nikitha; Kulich, Hailee R; LaFerrier, Justin; Lopes, Celia R; Collins, Nicole L; Dicianno, Brad E; Cooper, Rory A
    This study aimed to apply a journey mapping methodology to identify travel considerations and barriers for people with disabilities (PWDs) at each travel stage, from considering a trip through to arriving at the destination for their current modes of transportation, with the objective of understanding and avoiding “pain points” during a transition to autonomous driving systems. Twenty PWDs, including those with physical, visual, aural, cognitive, and combined physical/visual impairments, participated in a semistructured one-on-one interview. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic information, and qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interviews and extract themes. Themes were further organized by the modes of transportation used. The top four themes in considering and planning a trip were third-party assistance availability (private vehicle, public transportation, and paratransit), finding an accessible or suitable parking space (private vehicle), access to a service location (public transportation and paratransit), and transportation schedules (public transportation and paratransit). The top four travel barriers to locating, entering, riding, and exiting transportation and arriving at the destination were vehicle ingress/egress (private vehicle and public transportation), concerns about wheelchair securement (public transportation and paratransit), requiring third-party assistance (private vehicle and public transportation), and accessibility to service locations (public transportation). The study suggests that to mitigate travel considerations and barriers for PWDs, vehicle-specific barriers and infrastructure issues should be addressed simultaneously. We anticipate that the findings will provide insights into the design and development of autonomous vehicles, to better accommodate the needs of PWDs.
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    Usability and Vibration Analysis of a Low-Profile Automatic Powered Wheelchair to Motor Vehicle Docking System
    (MDPI, 2023) Lee, Chang Dae; Daveler, Brandon J.; Candiotti, Jorge L.; Cooper, Rosemarie; Sivakanthan, Sivashankar; Deepak, Nikitha; Grindle, Garrett G.; Cooper, Rory A.
    The QLX is a low-profile automatic powered wheelchair docking system (WDS) prototype developed to improve the securement and discomfort of wheelchair users when riding in vehicles. The study evaluates the whole-body vibration effects between the proposed QLX and another WDS (4-point tiedown system) following ISO 2631-1 standards and a systematic usability evaluation. Whole-body vibration analysis was evaluated in wheelchairs using both WDS to dock in a vehicle while riding on real-world surfaces. Also, participants rated the usability of each WDS while driving a wheelchair and while riding in a vehicle in driving tasks. Both WDSs showed similar vibration results within the vibration health-risk margins; but shock values below health-risk margins. Fifteen powered wheelchair users reported low task load demand to operate both WDS; but better performance to dock in vehicles with the QLX (p = 0.03). Also, the QLX showed better usability (p < 0.01), less discomfort (p’s < 0.05), and greater security compared to the 4-point tiedown while riding in a vehicle (p’s < 0.05). Study findings indicate that both WDS maintain low shock exposure for wheelchair users while riding vehicles, but a better performance overall to operate the QLX compared to the 4-point tiedown system; hence enhancing user’s autonomy to dock in vehicles independently.