I have a veteran with a degenerative peripheral nerve disease and am slowly losing the use of my ...

[G+_Pete Warner]

I have a veteran with a degenerative peripheral nerve disease and am slowly losing the use of my arms and legs - legs worse than hands. I have looked at adaptive driving aids that let you control the gas and brake with your hands - but none are what I am looking for ... and the ones closest to what I want are thousands of dollars. Anyone have any suggestions on where I can find information on hacking the gas and brake of my car? Would it be possible to do this with an arduino or Pi talking to the car's bus through the OBD-II connector?

 

I have a spinner mounted on the bottom of my steering wheel to allow me to rest my left arm on my lap while steering with it and free up my right hand for operating cruise control and other controls. When not using my right hand, I rest my right arm on the center console and my right hand on the shifter. I would love to build a control that could mount on the shifter and allow me to control the accelerator and brake with my right hand. Anyone have any suggestions on an interface for my right hand that would not fatigue my hand? Motorcycle type controls (twist for gas, squeeze handle for brakes) come to mind. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[G+_Black Merc]

Not to disrespect know-how but, I have fallowed element14's the ben heck show. He has moded xbox controllers for disabled vets and kids. I'm thinking a similar thing can be done here... Know-how could do a joint show with ben heck...

[G+_Ben Reese]

It's very likely possible with Raspberry Pi, but not recommended. If the system freezes or spasms while driving, the results could be fatal. Mechanical is the best way to go - at the very least as a manual override.

[G+_Black Merc]

Focusing on right hand... The shifter... The triggers on an Xbox or PlayStation could be moded onto the shifter for breaking and gas.

[G+_Rickbearcat]

Honestly, your local Veteran's Administration office should be able to help you out with the cost of driving aids. I would seek their advice for mechanical driving aids.

[G+_Black Merc]

Rickbearcat? haven't you not heard? Va system is broken...

 

It is true that they are there to assist the veterans in such a way but, more often than not churches, non-profits and fund raisers have to step-in.

 

Besides, the way it sounds... He wants something cool.

[G+_Rickbearcat]

Black Merc The fact (if true) that churches, non-profits, and fundraisers needing to step in show a fundamental flaw in the VA system that needs correcting. No outside organizations should need to step in where our Veteran's are concerned. The country made a promise to Vets for serving our needs in times of war and that promise should be kept.

[G+_Black Merc]

The little known fact that gov. Is the single most wasteful organization on the planet, veterans are dying, waiting on waiting lists to even see a doctor much-less actually getting something done to assist.

 

I have seen many non-profits actually getting something done with less resources.

[G+_Jason Marsh]

Drivers aids like levers for gas and brake are pretty simple (read: bulletproof) systems to implement. I would go that route before entertaining electronics. Now, if your throttle is already drive-by-wire, then that's fairly easy and safe to relocate.

 

And yes, shameful as it is, NGOs get a lot done for our Veterans and others dealing with disabilities that the government is ill-equipped for. Not that NGOs are shameful, but the .gov, well ...