A STUDY OF THE DRIVER-VEHICLE SYSTEM IN RELATION TO VEHICLE HANDLING

The need to produce safer vehicles requires that there must be a better understanding of both the dynamics of the vehicle, and the interaction between the driver and his automobile. It is the latter aspect which is the topic of this paper. The demands placed on the driver can be measured either by subjective tests or by determining factors which quantify the degree of difficulty or concentration demanded of the driver. The method outlined in the paper uses mathematical models for both the driver and vehicle and by specifying certain criteria which must be satisfied, it is possible to determine limits within which the vehicle will have acceptable handling characteristics without placing unreasonable demands on the driver. The obvious difficulty which then arises is how to choose the performance criteria. This problem can be overcome by applying the principles adopted in the study of aircraft handling characteristics. The criteria used are the vehicle damping and natural frequency in yaw, a phase margin, or relative stability criterion for the closed loop system, and maintaining the time constants of the driver transfer function within certain limits. In addition to these, a maximum speed limit can also be placed on the vehicle. The vehicle parameters can then be varied, and by applying the performance criteria, limits can then be placed on these parameters for the vehicle to have acceptable handling characteristics. /Author/TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  International Federation of Auto Techniques Engs

  3 Avenue du President Wilson
  F 75116 Paris,   France 
• Authors:
  • Wynne, R J
• Publication Date: 0

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 1 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Damping (Physics); Drivers; Driving; Frequency (Electromagnetism); Handling characteristics; Mathematical models; Speed; Stability (Mechanics); Vehicle dynamics; Vehicles; Yaw
• Uncontrolled Terms: Handling
• ITRD Terms: 1057: Air transport network; 8525: Conference; 5559: Damping; 1772: Driver; 6997: Frequency; 6473: Mathematical model; 5408: Speed; 1646: Vehicle handling
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00163342
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 12 1978 12:00AM