DRIVER-AUTOMOBILE INTERFACES

THE QUALITY OF HIGH-SPEED, HIGH-DENSITY TRAFFIC FLOW MAY BE IMPROVED BY USE OF AN AUTOMOBILE SYSTEM FOR THE LONGITUDINAL CONTROL OF VEHICLES IN A TRAFFIC STREAM. HOWEVER, SUCH A SYSTEM MUST INCLUDE A MANUAL MODE, SO THAT A DRIVER CAN, IF NECESSARY, QUICKLY REGAIN AND KEEP CONTROL OF HIS VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY, AN IMPROVED MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE MUST BE DESIGNED FOR NONEQUIPPED VEHICLES, SO THAT THEIR PERFORMANCE APPROXIMATES THAT OF A VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH AN AUTOMATIC SYSTEM. AN IMPROVED MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE, WHICH MAY BE USED IN BOTH EQUIPPED AND NONEQUIPPED VEHICLES IS BEING STUDIED. A TACTILE AIDING DEVICE, OR FINGER, WAS BUILT INTO THE HEAD OF A CONTROL STICK, THE FINGER POSITION GIVING THE DRIVER AN ACCURATE INDICATION OF HIS STATE WITH RESPECT TO A LEAD VEHICLE. THIS CONTROL DEVICE WAS TESTED IN BOTH A NORMAL AND A DIFFICULT SIMULATED CAR-FOLLOWING SITUATION, AND THE RESULTS COMPARED WITH THOSE OBTAINED USING A CONVENTIONAL SET OF AUTOMOBILE CONTROLS IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS. THIS COMPARISON WAS MADE ON THE BASIS OF HEADWAY AND RELATIVE VELOCITY VARIANCE, AND INVOLVED A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA. SIZABLE REDUCTIONS IN BOTH VELOCITY AND HEADWAY VARIANCE WERE OBTAINED USING THE TACTILE CONTROLLER, SOME 40 AND 85 PER CENT, RESPECTIVELY. THE LOWEST VARIANCE VALUES WERE OBTAINED WHEN THE TACTILE DISPLAY WAS PARTIALLY QUICKENED, THIS SUGGESTING THAT THE DRIVER BEHAVES, FOR AT LEAST PART OF THE TIME, AS A SIMPLE AMPLIFIER. SOME JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS VIEW WAS OBTAINED FROM A COMPARISON OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MAN-TACTILE CONTROLLER WITH THAT OF A SIMPLE AMPLIFIER EXCITED BY AN IDENTICAL SIGNAL. IT APPEARS THAT SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN CAR-FOLLOWING MAY BE OBTAINED BY USING THE TACTILE CONTROLLER, AND THAT IT MAY BE USED BOTH AS THE MANUAL MODE OF AN AUTOMATIC SYSTEM AND AS THE PRIMARY CONTROL IN AN UNEQUIPPED VEHICLE. HOWEVER, THE RESULTS DISCUSSED HERE WERE ALL OBTAINED FROM SIMULATOR STUDIES, AND THUS THE FINAL DECISION AS TO THE EFFICIENCY OF THE TACTILE CONTROLLER IN CAR-FOLLOWING, MAY BE DRAWN ONLY AFTER REAL-WORLD TESTING. IT APPEARS CLEAR, HOWEVER, THAT TACTILE AIDING IS A USEFUL METHOD FOR SENDING INFORMATION, HENCE, SUCH AN APPROACH MIGHT BE PROFITABLY USED IN A VARIETY OF OTHER TRACKING TASKS.

• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio State University, Columbus

  190 North Oval Drive
  Columbus, OH  United States  43210
• Authors:
  • Fenton, R E
• Publication Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Automatic control; Automobiles; Behavior; Drivers; Following distance; Headways; Improvements; Interfaces; Longitudinal control; Mode S; Simulation; Statistical analysis; Systems; Tactile perception; Traffic density; Traffic flow; Traffic speed; Variance; Vehicles; Velocity
• Old TRIS Terms: Following distance (Of vehicles)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226998
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Hpr
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 13 2004 6:46PM