RELIABILITY PREDICTION AND ERGONOMIC OPTIMISATION OF MANUAL LEVER SYSTEMS FOR DISABILITY-ADAPTED VEHICLES: AN EXPERIMENTAL AND MATHEMATICAL MODELLING APPROACH

Mechanical lever systems that transfer foot-pedal functions to hand operation are the most widely deployed adaptive technology in retrofitted vehicles for drivers with lower-limb disabilities. Their premature failure or ergonomic inadequacy directly compromises driver safety, yet no locally validated reliability or ergonomic assessment framework exists in Central Asia. Objective: To quantify the reliability characteristics and ergonomic performance of a prototype dual-lever hand-control system through experimental testing and mathematical modelling, and to derive optimisation guidelines for future designs.