Comparison of Lateral Control in a Reconfigurable Driving Simulator

The UCF driving simulator was designed to be reconfigurable so that either a commercial truck cab or entire passenger vehicle (Saturn with engine and transmission removed) can be mounted on a motion platform. Several vehicle dynamics models are available for various truck/trailer combinations as well as different passenger vehicles. A study was performed to assess whether there are significant differences in driving patterns, specifically with respect to lateral control for both class of vehicles. Subjects were instructed to drive through a visual database in the truck and Saturn. Driver inputs, gas, brake and steering wheel along with vehicle position was logged at 30 Hz. A test section of two lane road approximately 1350 meters in length with several bends was used to compare the lateral displacement from the centerline in the truck and Saturn. Tests of hypotheses involving the differences in population parameters (mean and variance) for each of 15 driver's lateral position while driving in the truck and Saturn were conducted. The driver's steering behavior for both types of vehicles was also compared using frequency domain analysis. Results are presented in the paper. THE MARK II SYSTEM FROM GE-DD The Mark II system is manufactured by GE-DD, which has been making driving simulators for many years. The truck vehicle cab is a mid-sized, late-model manufacturers’ cab shown in Fig.1. FIGURE 1 The Vehicle Cab Of The Mark II System The cab is installed on a 6-degree-of-freedom motion base. Three channels of vision are projected on 3 flat white walls in front of the vehicle cab as shown in Fig.2. Two channels of vision are dedicated for rear view mirrors which are actually two LCD monitors. The image generation software is running on 6 personal computers. One of them installs the vehicle dynamics model and calculates simulator position data and motion of the cab. The other five computers generate image sequences for the five channels. A 7 PC is equipped with the operation console and is for loading the vehicle dynamic models and the existing traffic scenarios. The Scenario Editor is used to design new driving scenarios. FIGURE 2 The Driving Environment GE-DD also delivered and installed a Saturn re-configurable cab on the motion base (see Fig.3). FIGURE 3 The Saturn On The Motion Base