A knowledge based system to suggest adaptive equipment for disabled drivers

The development of a knowledge-based system (KBS) to assist therapists, evaluators, and other rehabilitation professionals in the selection of adaptive equipment to customize vehicles for disabled drivers is described. The KBS is designed to assist a therapist after the clinical evaluation and driving evaluations have been performed. A prototype KBS called the Knowledge-based Adaptive Driving Equipment Tool (KADET) was designed, built, and tested, and its effectiveness was assessed in a two-part evaluation focusing on both the performance and the usability of the system. Recommendations by experts in adaptive equipment selection were compared to recommendations made by driver evaluators. A usability measure was calculated on the basis of users´ and experts´ ratings for several usability factors. The calculation indicated a high measure of usability for KADET