Evaluation of the Canesta DP-205

Principal Investigator/s: Richard Simpson, PhD, ATP

Co-Investigator/s: N/A

2005-2006

A significant impediment to augmenting mobility devices with sensors manner is the trade-off that must be made between cost and performance.  Simply put, inexpensive sensors (e.g., acoustic rangefinders, infrared rangefinders) are not accurate enough, while very accurate sensors (e.g., laser rangefinders) are extremely expensive.  What is needed is an inexpensive, accurate sensor that is small and lightweight and consumes very little power.  We propose to evaluate a new series of “sensor chips,” the DP200, for use in mobility devices.  The DP200 series was originally developed by Canesta for creating “virtual keyboards” for personal digital assistants, may provide sufficient performance at a suitable cost.  We will evaluate the suitability of sensors within the DP200 series by constructing apparatus that allows us to conduct controlled, replicable tests and recording the performance of the sensor under a variety of real-world operating conditions.