Driver-in-the-Loop: Simulation as a Highway Safety Tool SHAWN ALLEN NATIONAL ADVANCED DRIVING SIMULATOR (NADS) THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Transcription

1 Driver-in-the-Loop: Simulation as a Highway Safety Tool SHAWN ALLEN NATIONAL ADVANCED DRIVING SIMULATOR (NADS) THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

2 Shawn Allen Iowa Driving Simulator 3D support for Automated Highway research, Virtual Proving Grounds National Advanced Driving Simulator Int l Simulator Development VPG - Aberdeen Proving Grounds Technical lead for all virtual and correlated database modeling Visualization PM 2010

3 National Advanced Driving Simulator World-class driving simulation research center created in 2001 Part of UI s College of Engineering and Center for Computer Aided Design (CCAD) Available for use by anyone History of collaborations with government, industry and research institutions

4 Mission To enhance the safety of highways.. to improve the productivity of the vehicle manufacturing sector.. Vision Pave the way in driving safety, vehicle systems, and virtual environment research through advancing multidisciplinary, collaborative simulation science and technology. by conducting and supporting simulatorbased and motor vehicle systems research.

5 NADS Facility Simulators at different levels of realism Safety training lab Located at UI Research Park in Iowa City, Iowa NADS-1 Dome in Bay NADS-2 with Freightliner Heavy Truck Cab NADS MiniSim

6 NADS-1 World s highest-fidelity research simulator with 13 degrees of freedom 24-foot dome with 360-degree photorealistic environment 4 Isolated, high-frequency vibration actuators Hydraulic-powered hexapod motion platform Motorized turntable 64 x 64 motion rail

7 Uniqueness of NADS-1 The closest to driving an actual vehicle in a controlled, repeatable environment Simulate all ground vehicle types Driver can feel different types of roads Driver can experience different time of day and visibility conditions Drivers can experience sustained motion cues (braking, sliding, turning)

8 NADS-2 Medium fidelity simulator No motion Limited 140 degree visual field of view Uses same cabs, software as the NADS-1 Lower operating cost High-resolution 20/20 visuals suitable for assessing driver visual performance (1/2 arc min resolution) Physical glare source linked to headlights of oncoming traffic

9 NADS MiniSim Portable, small footprint Off-the shelf parts, easy to service Reliable Cost effective Multiple configurations Web-site provides connection to national network of researchers and practitioners

10 NADS MiniSim Partners (Green=Vehicles, Blue=Heavy Trucks, Red=Both) United Tribes Technical College, ND U. of Wisc- Madison Michigan Tech. Hartford Hospital U. of Washington CSU San Bernardino U. of Texas- Austin IOWA DOT ISU UI Colleges of Engineering and Medicine NHTSA, US DOT Florida State University

11 Highway Design Issues & Simulation Problems and Needs of Highway Engineering Speed selection Intersections/interchanges Work zones Traffic Control Device (TCD) comprehension Road departure and curves Roundabout navigation

12 Requires wide FOV simulator displays Requires simulators with motion/vibration cues Requires realistic driver control inputs and vehicle dynamics Fidelity Demands Required Lessons Learned How does simulation address these issues Intersection/interchange X X X 3X Workzone Design X 1X TCD Comprehension X 1X Roundabouts (speed entry) X X X 3X Traffic Calming (Gateway) X X 2X

13 Why Are Driving Simulators Important Provide a controlled and repeatable environment in which studies can safely be conducted Needed to assess how factors influence a person s ability to drive safely; particularly in situations which are too dangerous to study on the real road Simulator trials allow observation of large groups of people and provides an arena for objective assessment of performance Physical and behavioral validity is proven to replicate the real world across different levels of driving simulators

14 Roadway Design and Simulator Fidelity Broad Goal Make simulators more useful for highway engineers Method Define needs based on input from highway engineers Collect comparison data (simulator and roadway) Intersection/interchange design and optimization Lane selection Speed selection Gap acceptance Traffic control device comprehension Develop transformations to match road data and levels of simulator fidelity Outcomes Match design issues to simulator platforms Document utility and limitations of simulator-to-roadway data transformation Identify opportunities for using simulators to address roadway design issues Status: study in early phases

15 Virtual Iowa City

16 Off-Road Validation Photos taken at local speedway for wheel-loader study

17 Off-Road Validation The completed virtual environment

18 Off-road Validation Integrated Caterpillar dynamics into NADS simulation Off-road driving terrain Instrumented and integrated manufacturer s cab into simulator

19 Thank you Questions For more information: