SPECIFICATIONS FOR PARTIALLY AUTOMATED CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR THE DRIVER

APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES WERE EXPLORED TO AID THE DRIVER IN HIS VISUAL AND CONTROL TASKS. A SYSTEM THAT RECORDS DRIVER EYE MOVEMENTS WAS USED TO DETERMINE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN DRIVER INFORMATION ACQUISITION. THE DETAILING OF DRIVER SEARCH AND SCAN PATTERNS IN SEVERAL DRIVING CONFIGURATIONS AND UNDER CONDITIONS OF VARYING VISUAL WORKLOAD PROVIDED A DATA BASE FOR THE DESIGN OF VISUAL AIDS. IT WAS FOUND THAT A HEAD-UP PRESENTATION OFFERS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OVER DASHBOARD DISPLAYS; IT ALLOWS THE DRIVER TO RECEIVE INFORMATION WHILE HIS EYES ARE FOCUSED FOR FAR VISION (THUS, CONVERGENCE AND ACCOMMODATION TIMES ARE SAVED) AND PERMITS THE LOCATION OF THE DISPLAYED INFORMATION TO BE AT THE CENTER LOCATION OF THE DRIVER'S VISUAL PATTERS. ACCORDINGLY, A HEAD-UP DISPLAY WAS BUILT AND INSTALLED IN A TEST VEHICLE. IN ONE EXPERIMENT THE HEAD-UP DISPLAY INDICATED THE DISTANCE BETWEEN A FOLLOWING CAR AND LEAD VEHICLE BY MEANS OF A RED OR GREEN LIGHT. RESULTS SHOWED THAT THIS TYPE OF DISPLAY RESULTED IN REDUCED HEADWAY VARIANCES AND THE DRIVERS BECOMING MORE ALIKE IN TERMS OF THEIR AVERAGE HEADWAY. A HEAD-UP DISPLAY MAY ALSO BE USED TO PRESENT WARNING, ROUTE GUIDANCE, REGULATORY, AND LATERAL CONTROL INFORMATION TO THE DRIVER. ALSO, IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN FM DATA RECORDING SYSTEM, AN ELECTRONIC CARBURETOR CONTROL SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED TO TEST THE EFFECT OF CONTROL SYSTEM GAIN ON DRIVER PERFORMANCE. RESULTS INDICATED A GREAT ADAPTATION CAPABILITY OF DRIVERS. IN ADDITION, A SEMIAUTOMATIC LONGITUDINAL CONTROLLER WAS DEVELOPED TO AID THE DRIVER IN THE SMALL SIGNAL CAR-FOLLOWING SITUATION. UTILIZATION OF THE CONTROLLER RESULTED IN SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT IN DRIVING PERFORMANCE. THUS, THE RESEARCH HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT CONTROL AND DISPLAY AIDING CAN BE DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED AGAINST DRIVING NORMS. THE ABILITY TO MAKE DRIVERS MORE ALIKE IN DRIVING PERFORMANCE THROUGH AIDING SUGGESTS OBVIOUS ADVANTAGES IN TRAFFIC FLOW.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept No Ees 277B-3, 158 PP, 58 FIG, 10 TAB, 50 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio State University, Columbus

  Department of Industrial Engineering
  Columbus, OH  United States  43210
• Authors:
  • Rockwell, T H
  • Krenek, R
  • Mourant, R
• Publication Date: 1969-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automatic control; Control devices; Control systems; Driver performance; Drivers; Headways; Information display systems; Information management; Information, data, and knowledge; Personnel performance; Property acquisition; Traffic flow; Visual aids
• Uncontrolled Terms: Acquisition
• Old TRIS Terms: Displays; Focusing
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220504
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 24 1970 12:00AM