Interface Design for Boccia Robot Considering Operation Characteristic

Abstract

When designing a product, there are many possibilities of modeling construction. And it is influenced by tacit knowledge such as experiences of the designer and sense of aesthetics. Therefore, sometimes things made with the designer’s design model do not conform to the user’s mental model, so problems such as unknown usage, unsuited experience to use may occur.

1 Introduction

As the process of user experience design becomes more sophisticated, various user survey analyzes to know users, and methods of design assessment have been proposed. However, using the results of user survey analysis, we think that it is necessary to examine the method at the stage of product modeling and construction. If you can use the results of previous user survey analysis successfully and you can think of shaping with consideration of the elements of the next design evaluation in advance, shorten the time required for the project and rely on the tacit knowledge of the designer. We believe that it will be possible to build a more user-friendly product. In this research, We aimed to submit a method of modeling construction that considers general operation usability characteristics without relying on the tacit knowledge of designers.

2 The Concept of Boccia Robot Project

2.1 What Is Boccia?

Boccia is an official event of the Paralympic Games, a sport for severely cerebral paralysis people born in Europe or those with severe extremely severe functional impairment. It is divided into two teams of red and blue, and they compete for how to throw 6 balls of red and blue each, ball, rolling or how to approach the white target ball called jackball.

If you are unable to throw a ball by yourself, use a ramp, a ramp, tell your will to the helper and push the ball with an aid such as a body part or a head pointer.

2.2 Introduction of Boccia Robot Project

Boccia Robot removes both disabled and classified according to the degree of disability in order to promote the health of people with disabilities and to improve the awareness of disabled people in sports. Everyone participates in the same game and together with the competition of Boccia It is a project to develop throwing device “Boccia Robot” (Fig. 1) by application of robot technology for the purpose of enabling enjoyment. In this research, we examine the method of modeling and construction over the design of the interface for operating the throwing device “Boccia Robot”.

Fig. 1.

Throwing device during trial production

3 Designing Process of Boccia Robot

3.1 Athlete Classification

In the international convention such as the Paralympic Games, depending on the degree of disability, the competitors are divided into 4 of BC 1 to BC 4 (BC is the abbreviation of Brain Cytoplasmic). It is divided into classes:

• BC1 Players in this class throw the ball with the hand or foot. They may compete with an assistant who stays outside of the competitor’s playing box, to stabilize or adjust their playing chair and give the ball to the player when requested.

• BC2 Players in this class throw the ball with the hand. They are not eligible for assistance.

• BC3 Players in this class have very severe locomotor dysfunction in all four extremities. Players in this class have no sustained grasp or release action and although they may have arm movement, they have insufficient range of movement to propel a Boccia ball onto the court. They may use an assistive device such as a ramp to deliver the ball. They may compete with an assistant; assistants must keep their back to the court and their eyes averted from play.

• BC4 Players in this class have severe locomotor dysfunction of all four extremities as well as poor trunk control. They can demonstrate sufficient dexterity to throw the ball onto the court. Players are not eligible for assistance.

3.2 Preliminary Survey Analysis

In order to recognize Boccia and gather information on the target person, we participated in the tour of Boccia other than collection of materials on the Internet and other media. The Faculty of Health and Welfare at Tokyo Metropolitan University Tokyo holds the “Boccia Classroom” at the gymnasium of the Arakawa Campus. After grasping basic information such as Boccia rules and flow of competition, behavior observation was carried out, and it summarized in “Thinking to throw” and “Throwing method”. Then I set up a persona and analyzed it with an experience map (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.

Introduction of Boccia classroom and appearance of participation

In addition to the stage of the survey and analysis at the previous term, we went to the Boccia classroom as necessary to communicate with participants so that the design can fully consider the situation of people with disabilities in the whole design process.

Experience Map Analysis

The current Boccia Sports experience is good for participants, experiences are not good, especially in order to discover problems for people with disabilities, when observing Boccia classroom Based on six people who participated in the same game persona, And analyzed with an experience map (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3.

Experience map

The experience was the most problematic for those who participate in Boccia, as a result of the experience map analysis, for those who throw balls with lamps who can not throw the balls themselves.

One is a matter of communication. For this type of person, ask the assistant to adjust the position and angle of the lamp. As a rule of the game, the assistant only needs to move in response to the instructions of the athlete, and keep turning his eyes off the game with his back on the coat. However, people with disabilities such as cerebral palsy often have difficulties in language function, and therefore often can not convey their intention well. There are two ways to throw (Figs. 4, 5):

Fig. 4.

Method A: Rolling from the bottom

Fig. 5.

Method B: Throw from the top

Method A is used when throwing to a distance or throwing near by force adjustment. Method B tends to stop at the position where it fell. As a result of analyzing the method of throwing, a person who throws the ball using the lamp found a problem that can not be thrown in Method B.

Compared with the case of throwing the ball by himself, the machine makes the weak hand feel the part of operation. However, depend on the experience of the participants, many cases lead to fail, the ability of the person, the condition at the time of the match, so when developing a throwing device, it can’t be too accurate. We must think with consciousness that the outcome of practice can be reflected.

3.3 Investigate Interfaces that Can Be Classified as Disabled Persons

In order to think about the different operation interface for different types of disabled persons by typing according to physical characteristics of people with disabilities. Therefore the possible operation parts are different, it is possible to select the possible operation parts with eyes (eye movement, blinking, etc.), mouth (voice operation, blowing etc.); head, neck, jaw; finger, wrist, arm; By the way, based on the condition of the operation site, we classified people with disabilities according to the degrees of freedom of the body.

After classifying people with disabilities by physical features, we looked for existing operation interface in the order of operation parts, and thought about an interface that can be used for Boccia Robot. We have summarized the operation interface we searched, with the goal of not only being able to play for the disabled but also having fun to play.

Therefore, I thought that it is necessary to analyze concrete behavior such as the degree of disability of the operation site and the range of movement. Finally the Japan Para Athletics Federation’s Paralympic Sports.

Considering the physical characteristics of people with disabilities, within the range of moderate physical strength without resorting to intense exercise capacity, the elements that can be enjoyed fun are classified into “feeling of exercise moving the body”, “feeling of tension thinking strategy in the head”, “There is a challenge feeling” “There are three”. Then, mapping the existing operation interface on the horizontal axis: brain power → physical strength, vertical axis: operative → intuitive, the core interface zone of the operation interface which is likely to be used for robotics, “tablet type”, “remote control type”, “sensor” There were three tendencies (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6.

Mapping existing operation interface

3.4 Re-type Disabled People for Behavior Analysis

Therefore, I thought that it is necessary to analyze concrete behavior such as the degree of disability of the operation site and the range of movement. Finally I referred to para-sports track and field classification 7 by the Japan Para Athletics Federation.

In the track sports classification of Paralympic Sports, “T” in the previous English letter means running race, jumping competition, “F” means throwing competition. Among the following numbers, the preceding number represents the type of disability and the number behind it represents the degrees of disability.

If designing with consideration of the disability of each class with a high degree of disability, considering applying light persons with a slight degree of disability, basically the type with a high degree of disability in each class is represented as a representative type Extracted (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7.

Representative type of each extracted class

As a method of motion analysis, first of all, in order to share the image within the design team, from the explanation about the representative type by parachuting athletics classification, search for examples of people with disabilities that match the situation, collect Fig. 7, A possible operation part of this type of person and the possible operation are analyzed by a sketch and summarized in a table.

According to Paralympic sport’s athletics classification, people with disabilities are divided into two types: disabled and disabled due to cerebral hemiplegia.

Disabled people with TB (T/F 3X) is symptoms such as spastic paralysis, ataxia, athetosis (involuntary movement) who cannot control their own body well. A person with severe cerebral neuropathy disorder (T/F 31) cannot operate with limbs, and as an operation part, it is a part of the head (eye: eye movement, blinking etc.; mouth: voice operation, blowing etc.; jaw: It is possible to do only within the movable range). A person with moderate EEG (T/F 32.33.36) can operate with limbs but cannot control the body well, so when moving the body, the movement is larger than the desired motion and within a small range cannot operate precisely (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8.

Typical type behavior analysis table of T/F 5X class

People who use disabled/disabled wheelchairs (T/F 5X) operate mainly with arm parts. Depending on the extent of the disorder, the range of mobility is different, generally the part of the affected limb is accompanied by a weak force, a weak sensation (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9.

Typical type behavior analysis table of T/F 3X class

According to the above analysis, the operation part is divided into head parts (eyes, mouth, chin), part of the arm (finger, wrist, elbow), foot part to the eyes. Person’s habits, the situation of each type of person above Also, “the feeling of movement to move the body” as the “element that can be enjoyed and played” which the project is aiming, “the feeling of tension thinking strategy in the head”, “Taking a comprehensive view of the “challenging feeling of”, in this time except for interfaces with less exercise such as brain waves, eye movement and the like, the order of the operating parts considered is: arm part (finger, wrist, elbow) > head part Mouth, jaw) ≥ It was made to part of the foot.

3.5 Prototype Evaluation

Operating Procedure:

See Fig. 10.

Fig. 10.

Operating procedure

3.6 Idea Submission by Type

From the previous disabled type classification behavior analysis, we divide it into types 1 to 3 that can be operated with the arm this time, and severe encephalopathy paralyzed T/F 31 that can only be operated with the head, perform idea sorting by type It was.

There were three kinds of controller proposals as shown in Fig. 11 among idea ideas issued at the stage of the previous idea issue. Since the throwing device has four parameters of machine position, machine orientation, machine arm angle when throwing a ball and machine throwing angle when throwing a ball, if you divide it into four parts, the controller size Is large or the interval between each part is small, there is a risk of erroneous operation, so the idea made out mainly focused on operation simplification.

Fig. 11.

Three selected plan

Based on these three controllers, prototypes were created to separate easy-to-use size and shape of controllers for each type of people (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12.

Prototype

3.7 Prototype Evaluation

Before evaluating the prototype, first of all, type 1 of the type that operates with the part of the arm, before manipulating the prototype, so that it is possible to separate the problem in operation and the controller’s easy-to-use shape and size for each type of person, 3 persons of type 2, 1 person of type 3, 1 person of severe encephalopathy paralyzed T/F 31 operated at the head part, features of the body of a total of 6 persons, the operation site and the method of setting the controller I made a persona (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13.

Proposed controller in the first stage

• Type 1: Can not use only fingers

• Type 2: Can not use elbows, wrists, fingers. Joint is stiff

• Type 3: Weak force Involuntary movement. Joint is stiff

• Type 4: Paralysis (non-cerebral) can be operated with chin, gaze, expression

• Type 5: Elbow can not be raised from the desk; Wrist, you can use fingers; Grip strength is weak, but toothbrush, spoon etc. are grasped;

Can be used with an auxiliary device According to the result of the evaluation, for each type of person, it is easier to use an interface that operates with a momentary completion operation such as pressing. Therefore, the idea of the type to operate with the next wrist and the type to operate with the jaw will be considered based on the proposal A of the combination button, the throw button and the joystick. For finger operated type you need to think about a new smaller size.

In addition, it is necessary to consider the switching button, the distance between the throwing button and the joystick, and the arrangement of the three parts.

3.8 Examination of Size Based on Operation Characteristics

When Operating with the Wrist

According to the results of the prototype evaluation, people of Persona I, II, V who operate with the wrist have a possibility of misoperation if the distance between the toggle button, throw button and the joystick is not enough, so the minimum between these three parts In order to understand the interval, we measured the size of the back of the hand, the width of the hand, the width of the fist, the height of the fist as the operating part (Fig. 14).

Fig. 14.

Measurement part to be operated with wrist

When Operating with Chin

People of Persona VI who manipulates with chin is a type that operates within the movable range of the jaw, so there is a possibility that it can not be delivered if the distance between the toggle button and the throwing button and the joystick is far, so the optimum distance that can be operated with natural posture, We measured the distance when the left and right movement of the jaw naturally acts as the operation site (Fig. 15).

Fig. 15.

Measuring part operated with chin

When Operating With Fingers

When operating with fingers, the size is small, so even if there is a difference in spending there is a possibility that operability may be affected. For this time, we conducted an experiment focusing on the difference between the range of movement of fingers naturally and the height.

4 Redesign from the Results of Review

From the results of the examination, since it is understood the basic size such as the switching button, the throwing button and the distance between the joystick, the arrangement position, the height, etc., “a plan to operate with the wrist”, “a proposal to operate with the chin”, “Draft” to adjust the size of each type, redesign was done (Fig. 16).

Fig. 16.

Consider by prototype

5 Styling

After deciding all the design requirements, the styling part firstly starts from the image collage about “sporty”, the styling keyword of Boccia Robot this time “less is more”, “Professional: Paralympics, For Olympic athletes”, “Easy to use: Processing details focused mainly on easy-to-use”. And styling based on these three keywords (Fig. 17).

Fig. 17.

Finger operation

6 A Conclusion

In this research, we consider the method of modeling and building with the interface design for handling the sports support robot for the disabled as a case, and finally not only for people with disabilities, but also make out a proposed method from the analysis of the operation characteristics of different subjects. As future tasks, it is necessary to apply the modeling construction method in considering the submitted operation characteristics in an actual project and to verify it.