DEVELOPMENT OF A VEHICLE SIMULATOR FOR EVALUATING DRIVER PERFORMANCE

A SUMMARY DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF THE MECHANICAL, ELECTRO- MECHANICAL, TRACKING AND DATA-COMPUTATION FEATURES OF A SIMULATOR DEVELOPED FOR EVALUATING DRIVER PERFORMANCE. THE FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN CRITERIA FOR THE SIMULATOR ARE: (1) DIMENSIONAL DUPLICATION OF VEHICLE CAB INTERIORS, AND (2) ADEQUATE ADJUST-ABILITY RANGE TO INSURE OPERATOR COMFORT. A SURVEY OF THE HUMAN ENGINEERING MAN-MACHINE CONTROL SYSTEM LITERATURE LED TO THE ADOPTION OF A CENTRAL, CONTINUOUS TRACKING TASK REQUIRING STEERING WHEEL MANIPULATION. EVALUATION OF OPERATOR PERFORMANCE REQUIRES THE MEASUREMENT OF: (1) DISPLACEMENT VELOCITY AND TORQUE APPLIED TO THE STEERING WHEEL, (2) FORCES APPLIED TO THE BRAKE AND CLUTCH PEDALS, AND (3) RESPONSE TIME TO COMPLETE MANIPULATIVE TASKS. MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE WITH VARIOUS ELECTRO-MECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS. STANDARD STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO COMPARE DRIVER PERFORMANCE AMONG INDIVIDUAL SUBJECTS AND BETWEEN CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS UNDER EQUIVALENT TASK COMPLEXITY. DIGITAL COMPUTERS ARE USED FOR THE MATHEMATICAL ANALYSES. THIS SIMULATOR MAY BE CONSIDERED A GENERAL HUMAN OPERATOR CONTROL LABORATORY. WITH MINOR MODIFICATIONS THE APPARATUS CAN BE MADE TO ACCOMODATE A WIDE VARIETY OF TECHNICAL HUMAN FACTORS RESEARCH PROBLEMS. STUDIES NEED NOT BE LIMITED TO VEHICULAR CONTROL RESEARCH, BUT MAY BE DESIGNED TO ENCOMPASS A LARGE AREA OF THE PSYCHOMOTOR AND BIOMECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF THE HUMAN OPERATOR.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/330/330-010.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Domey, Richard G
  • Paterson, Donald
• Conference:
  • 41st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1962-1-8 to 1962-1-12
• Publication Date: 1962

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 92-100
• Monograph Title: Driver characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 330
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Brakes; Clutches; Digital computers; Dislocation (Geology); Driver performance; Drivers; Driving simulators; Electric meters; Emergency response time; Evaluation; Human factors; Human factors engineering; Human factors engineering; Mathematical analysis; Performance tests; Personnel performance; Reaction time; Reviews; Simulation; Statistical analysis; Steering wheels; Torque; Tracking systems; Training simulators; Transducers; Vehicles; Velocity; Voltmeters
• Uncontrolled Terms: Tracking
• Old TRIS Terms: Electrometers
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222765
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 5 1994 12:00AM