Dexterity: Robotic Armature for Hazardous Materials Manipulation Operated via Haptic Interface Glove; My Car, My Rules: Why Rideshare Drivers Deny Riders with Service Animals

My technical project and STS research paper address disparate forms of technology and share no common thread. The former entails a robotic hand while the latter examines service animals and ridesharing services. However, these two endeavors have afforded me insights into multiple perspectives of the engineering design process. Positioning my team and me as “real” engineers, my technical project gave me a taste of the challenges and tradeoffs that designers face in the pursuit of realizing their vision. At the same time, developing my STS research paper showed me how the complexity of the real world’s interactions shatters the illusion of objective technology. My technical project team developed Project Dexterity: a low-cost haptic finger-tracking glove and robotic hand for manipulating hazardous materials. Users operate the robotic hand via a control glove which tracks the user’s movements. Hall effect sensors measure finger movement, and inertial measurement units (IMUs) measure wrist movement. The glove’s microcontroller integrates these measurements and sends the appropriate commands wirelessly to the hand. In addition to motors for actuating the signals it receives from the control glove, the robotic hand bears a microcontroller, IMUs, and fingertip pressure sensors, which send signals back to the glove for driving fingertip haptic buzzers proportionate to the pressure applied to the robotic hand’s fingers. My STS research paper investigates rideshare drivers’ motivations for denying riders with service animals. I analyzed recent posts and comments from the r/uberdrivers subreddit for recurring themes concerning drivers’ opinions of service animals. I found that a perception of double standards from Uber, confusion over the Americans with Disabilities Act and company policy, and insufficient compensation contribute to service animal denial. To understand this issue within a broader social context, my paper draws upon the social model of disability and actor network theory (ANT).