WHEELCHAIR SIMULATOR
        --------------------

For full info   "type manual"

This was developed as a project for the Technical Resource Centre and the
Alberta Childrens' Hospital to allow the matching of a wheelchair joystick
to a child's handicap and allow the child to practice using the
chair in a safe environment. Injuries in the current training methods are
not unknown.

This package was written in "C" using the LYNNETTE graphical interface.
This allows a student to develop a program on a mainframe using the
AMIGA as a sophisticated graphics terminal and then download the program
onto the AMIGA and compile there directly. Versions of the LYNNETTE
graphical interface are being developed for the ATARI, IBM and APPLE GS
(IBM - vapourware until September 1988, the others are still a twinkle
in my eye.)


Type "source PROGRAMLOOP" to get an automated series where the
various programs call each other.


The program "MAKER" allows the making of a floor plan with walls,
doors, obstacles such as tables and cones, interesting objects such
as bulletin boards, arrows, happy faces. 

    Useage     maker demo1


The program "WHEELCHAIR2D" is a fairly unsophisticated (bowderized)
2D version of the simulator that shows the floorplan and wheelchair
from above. Uses a joystick. To exit from the program, hold the
joystick button down for a count of 10 and then pull back on the stick.

    Useage     wheelchair2d demo1


The program "WHEELCHAIR3D" is a 3D version that uses double buffering
for animation. Uses a joystick. To exit from the program, hold the
joystick button down for a count of 10 and then pull back on the stick.

    Useage     wheelchair3d demo1

  
The graphics use a "PAINTERS ALGORITHM" for the 3D
rendering. The problems associated with the "painters algorithm",
particularly when the "walls" are not viewed "straight on", are the major
reason for a lack of speed. You would not have thought that drawing and
clipping objects at right angles to each other was such a difficult problem.
We are in the processing of  canvassing for (tax-deductable) funding to allow
a rewrite ( delete #?.c ) which will provide a mixture of 68000 and "C"
for speed and simplicity. The rewrite will not start until Jan. 1989 so
that we can get back some feedback from the therapists about ALL the
things that need changing (and fixing).

If anybody has the code for a suitable 3D rendering that is not a memory
hog (program and 2 screens need to run in 512K) would be interested.

Mike Smith					smith@enel.calgary.cdn
Dept. Electrical Engineering,
University of Calgary,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4.

(403) 220-6142