A Comprehensive Survey of Foot-Operated Steering Systems for Individuals with Upper Limb Disabilities: A Literature Review

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">A significant portion of the global population about 13.6% of the world's population faces challenges due to upper limb disabilities caused by accidents, genetics, health issues or aging. These people struggle with everyday mobility tasks and often need help. Hence, the research is focused on creating special vehicle control systems to help them. This study gathers knowledge from various science and technology fields to develop foot-operated steering systems letting those with upper limb differences control vehicles with their feet. The research explores various technologies like modified steering, brain-controlled vehicles, foot-operated steering, steer-by-wire and Ackermann steering. Most of these systems are custom-made for people with upper limb differences. Ensuring safety, security, malfunction prevention, precise steering, user-friendliness and affordability is a significant challenge that demands advanced technology. Furthermore, there is a requirement to develop this system to meet modern demands while sustaining cost-effectiveness. In the pursuit of addressing the mobility challenges encountered by individuals with upper limb differences the research undertook a thorough assessment of various steering mechanisms such as Disk Steering, Joystick Steering, Push Button Steering…etc. The proposal introduces a foot-operated press button system to replace hand-operated steering wheels. Drivers can steer with their feet by engaging a press button on the steering pad. It connects directly to a controller which interfaces with a motor connected to a pinion pin. This motor moves the wheels precisely responding to the driver's interaction with the foot-operated press button and it is seamlessly connecting with steer-by-wire technology ensuring precise and responsive steering. whether they are using custom made vehicles or regular vehicles equipped with our proposed mechanism.</div></div>