A design tool for operator-adaptive steering controllers

One of the major deterrents of designing a control system for interactive use with an operator is the lack of a systematic procedure for modeling and incorporating human behavior directly into the design process. In many cases, direct operator feedback is difficult for qualitative design without a costly, full-scale physical prototype. The objective of this article is to present a modular framework, known as virtual design tools, to design the electrohydraulic steering system of off-road vehicles. The aim was to adapt the electromechanical interface between the operator's command signal and the fixed control and dynamic systems. The adaptation was performed with the intent of modifying the system performance to be more acceptable to the operator without altering the control system or vehicular components. This conceptual design tool was studied via a computer simulation for designing an operator-adaptive steering controller for an articulated off-road vehicle. The simulation results indicated that this "operator-in-the-loop" design method could successfully incorporate human behavior in the controller design process using the virtual design tool.