Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / Motorists generally follow the guidance provided by the pavement markings while traveling on roads. Under certain circumstances, construction joints may be necessary in concrete pavements, which are generally designed to be coincident with the pavement markings. At some locations, however, the construction joints may not exactly match the pavement markings. These situations may create confusion in the minds of drivers, which may lead them to follow joints instead of the markings. In the absence of detailed studies on this topic, an effort was made in the present study to evaluate the effects of unmatched longitudinal construction joints and pavement markings on the lateral position of vehicles. Sites having the characteristics of unmatched longitudinal construction joints and pavement markings were identified, and detailed data were collected at one of the sites. Video camera technique was used for capturing the movements of vehicles along the test site for longer durations. The video tapes were later reduced in the laboratory to extract necessary information. The distance to the right side of the vehicles from right curb of the road, the type of vehicle, presence of vehicles in the adjacent lane, weather and light conditions, and the movement of the vehicles immediately after traversing the section of the road having unmatched longitudinal construction joints and pavement markings were the main parameters observed while reducing the data. Two surveys were also conducted for gathering the opinions of some practitioners and engineers on the issue. Statistical analyses were carried out using t-tests to evaluate if there were differences. Several comparisons were made for different types of vehicles based on various conditions. The analysis results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the actual and expected distances to the center-line of vehicles, implying that the lateral position of vehicles may have been affected by the joints. A model was also developed to determine the lateral position of the vehicles by considering the parameters used in the analysis. Based on the survey results and analysis of field data, it was found that the lateral position of vehicles may have been affected by the unmatched joints and pavement markings.

As vehicle technologies continue to improve it is becoming more evident one of the last major factors impacting fuel economy left today is the driver. In this study the driver is defined as the operator of a vehicle and the difference between driving styles of the driver and vehicle is defined as aggressivity. Driver aggressivity is proven to have a substantial impact on fuel economy in many studies. Many fuel economy tests have been created, all to measure the fuel efficiency of today's vehicles and their related technologies. These tests typically require that the drivers be trained or experienced in fuel economy testing unless the impact of the driver on fuel economy is the variable being tested. It is also recommended, for certain tests, that the driver stay with the same vehicle for the tests entirety. Although these are the requirements, having the same trained drivers for the entirety of a fuel economy test may not always be a viable option. This leads to the question of, what impact can a set of drivers, who are asked to drive the same, have on fuel consumption during a fuel consumption test? The SAE J1321 Type II Fuel Consumption Test Procedure was followed on two identical trucks with two drivers that were untrained in fuel economy testing in order to answer this question. It was found in this particular study that the driver variability can impose up to a 10% fuel economy difference on shorter distance routes where the driver is kept the same. By increasing the distance of the route and swapping drivers variability in fuel economy reduced to 5%. It was shown by this particular test that the impact of the driver when asked to drive the same is minimal compared to real world results of up to 30%. A larger data set and more testing is still necessary to completely understand and validate the impact of the driver on fuel economy testing.

Reductions in speed and, more critically, speed variability between vehicles are thought to reduce crash risk in work zones. Numerous factors, such as lane width and lateral clearance and activity level, have been shown to influence speed but very little research has considered how multiple factors might interact to affect driver performance in work zones. This study evaluated the effect of work zone barrier type, presence of a lateral buffer, and work zone activity level on measures of speed and lane position. Twelve middle aged and twelve senior subjects drove in a National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) MiniSim. The subjects drove faster and with less variability in work zones with concrete barriers. Measures of speed and lane position were more heterogeneous across groups with 42-inch channelizers compared to drums. Speed was reduced and more variable in work areas with a high level of activity than in areas with a low level of activity. On the whole, the presence of a lateral buffer reduced speed variability in the high activity areas but this response was not uniform across all drivers. This research demonstrates that driving simulators can be used to evaluate how work zone factors may interact with one another to affect driver performance for different driver groups. While the results from this study corresponded to observations from actual work zones, the driving simulator must be validated with on-road data before generalizations can be made.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of perception of vehicle speed by the driver, without the possibility of checking the vehicle's tachometer. The theoretical part defines the basic concepts of vehicles, including the design of passenger cars. Furthermore, the work is devoted to the field of human perception, which is also focused on perception from the perspective of the driver, gender, and driving experience. The practical part deals with the design, preparation and implementation of experimental measurements. Subsequently, the evaluation of the measured data is performed in terms of selected factors that could affect the subjective estimate of the driver's speed. The conclusion of this work is also devoted to proposals for possible modifications of the measurement methodology for further use.

The main goal of this diploma thesis is to compare two circuits designed for LED powering with output current of units of Amperes. Both circuits are based on step-down converter topology, one with technology of synchronous rectifying and the other one without it. Calculations and selection of used components with real prototypes were made for both selected circuits. All selected components meet automotive qualification requirements for discrete products. Produced prototypes were compared in terms of functionality, efficiency, EMC and thermal radiation.

This work focuses on evaluating the parameters of the human operator as the driver of the vehicle simulator. In the first part, the thesis focuses on the examination of human operator parameters evaluation. In the second part of the thesis is a proposal of various scenarios focused on a specific area of measurement. At the end, the work focuses on the processing and evaluation of measured data obtained from the drivers tested.

This diploma thesis is focused on the comparison of perception of traffic signs and advertising areas in two different conditions day and night with focus on visual distraction of the driver. The introductory part deals with the analysis of the current state of the elements acting on the driver with an emphasis on mental processes and the senses of drivers affecting traffic safety. The analytical part draws on the videos from driving tests, the whose goals was to monitor the optical reactions of drivers. The resulting data were evaluated with goal to determine the time consuming views of the drivers on individual elements and the compared in different conditions. The last chapter includes the interpretation of the results of the analysis with suggestion of their use to increase traffic safety.

This thesis investigates the level of distraction while driving. The first part of the thesis is focused on the literature review in the field of distraction while driving. Several methods of measuring distraction while driving are being addressed here. The analytical part of the thesis draws on the video recordings of driving tests which were provided specifically for the purpose of this thesis. The resulting data were evaluated with goal to determine the time of visual fixation on traffic signs and advertising equipment in the urban area/non-urban area during the day/night and subsequent comparison of the visual perception of traffic signs and advertising equipment.

The aim of this work is evaluate usual time and frequency of selected traffic situations observation by the driver. A necessary part of this problem is a driver in this context is described herein personality driver and psychological factors that affect it during the process of driving in traffic. The important part is played by visual system driver and his perception of stimuli. The thesis also outlines the problems concerning the importance of transport routes, its environment and transport vehicle for drivers. The practical part is devoted to the evaluation of video recordings in the field driving tests on the basis of which it was possible to determine the frequency and duration of glances in selected situations in traffic.

The master's thesis is about a communication element - a hardware module, its design and implementation. The communication is to be maintained between a Linux embedded device and the sensors elements, using the MiWi protocol. The task is part of the IoT project, developed at FIT BUT. Furthermore, the paper describes design of a driver for the module, its likely solution, as well as the very implementation. Finally, the obtained experience is discussed in a summary, along the next step options on how to proceed further with the driver development.