The aim of this thesis is the design of a motion driving simulator for real-time simulation of driving experience. The design takes inspiration from an analysis of existing solutions. An emphasis was put on driver ergonomics in positions typical for a sports car, passenger car and truck, then on variability of motion system and simplicity of the whole design. The dynamics of motion system is also a subject of research. The computational model has been created to test the optimal position of moving arms. Another aim of the study is to create an interface between hardware and software, to confirm the function of the control device using a simple simulation model.

Pedestrian safety is among one of the largest concerns in the transportation profession. Many treatments have been developed and implemented to improve pedestrian safety. This current research focuses on the efficiency of in-pavement warning lights systems and involves multiple objectives. The primary objective is to evaluate the yielding rates and crosswalk usage of existing and proposed in-pavement lights systems with comparisons including before and after data through a case study approach. A secondary objective is to evaluate where drivers are looking when they approach in-pavement lights systems and develop a model to evaluate their behavior. The research described herein formulated these objectives into two research hypotheses and used statistical evaluation methodologies to provide quantitative and/or qualitative responses to the developed hypotheses. Data on pedestrian and driver behavior in the field, and the interaction between, them was collected using video camera technology in the Amherst, Massachusetts area. Data regarding drivers scan patterns during the approach to a crosswalk with in-pavement warning light system was collected using a driving simulator and an eye tracker. In total, 1,949 non-staged pedestrians and 606 staged pedestrians were observed crossing at the seven crosswalk locations in the field experiment and a total of 32 drivers participated in 576 crosswalk scenarios in the driving simulator evaluation. The field evaluation resulted in increased yielding rates and crosswalk usage after installation of in-pavement warning lights, while driving simulator evaluation resulted in drivers not becoming accustomed to scanning for lights instead of a pedestrian. Recommendations include installation of in-pavement warning lights at traditional, midblock crosswalks and continued exploration of all crosswalks in the driving simulator evaluation.

This research studies travelers' route choice behavior in a driving simulator with real-time information en-route. We investigate whether travelers plan strategically for real-time information en-route or simply select a fixed path from origin to destination at the beginning of a trip, and whether network complexity and a parallel driving task affect subjects' strategic thinking ability. In this study, strategic thinking refers to a traveler's route choice decision taking into account future diversion possibilities downstream enabled by information at the diversion node. All of the subjects in this study participated in driving-simulator-based tests while half of the subjects participated in additional PC-based tests. Three types of maps were used. The first type required a one-time choice at the beginning of a trip to test the traveler's risk attitude. The other two types offered route choices both at the beginning of and during a trip to test the traveler's strategic thinking. The study shows that a significant portion of route choice decisions are strategic in a realistic driving simulator environment. Furthermore, different network complexities impose different cognitive demands on a subject and affect his/her strategic thinking ability. A subject tends to be more strategic in a simple network. Lastly, a parallel driving task does not significantly affect a subject's strategic thinking ability. This seemingly counterintuitive conclusion might be caused by the simplicity of the tested network.

No description available.

Does the use of a cell phone while driving influence the driver's ability to execute a proper turn? Is there difference between genders pertaining to motor skill while driving in a simulated driving environment? To accomplish this task, three groups of ten participants (5 women and 5 men) each were tested using a scripted test scenario focusing on left and right turns. The participants were made to drive through a test scenario to get used to the driving simulator. The scenario for the experimental group was an inner-city training scenario with the presence of vehicular traffic and the main focus area was on six critical turns (3 left and 3 rights). The apparatus used for this study was the "Patrol Simulator" built by GE Driver Development. A 2 (Gender) x 3 (Cell phone condition) between subjects design was used to assess the differences in mean driving performance between gender (male and female) at 3 cell phone conditions (No Phone, Phone No Conversation, Phone with Conversation). The study verified that cellular phones would adversely affects a driver's ability to perform turns, and showed that gender plays a role in this effect. However, it did confirm that gender does not play any role in a person's overall ability to drive. The results indicated a significant main effect for Cell phone Condition for overall turns , F (2, 24) = 38.83, p > .0005, n[eta]² = .76. Results also indicated a significant interaction between Gender and Cell Phone Conditions, F (2, 24) = 3.97, p=.032, n[eta]² = 0.25.

The concept of using qualitative measures to describe the quality of service at signalized intersections provided by different designs and controls has been discussed in numerous conferences. Such measures may include driver's comfort, convenience, anxiety, and preferences. The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using the University of Central Florida's interactive driving simulator to execute several scenarios involving different unusual design and operation practices to measure the quality of service at a signalized intersection. This thesis describes the scenarios, the experiments conducted, the data collected, and analysis of results. Signalized intersections with 3 types of characteristic features were identified for this study. They included 1. A lane dropping on the downstream side of the intersection 2. Misalignment of traffic lanes between the approach and downstream side 3. Shared left turn and through traffic lane or separate lanes for each approaching the intersection The experimental phase consisted of a brief orientation session to get acclimated to the driving simulator followed by two driving scenarios presented to all subjects. Each scenario consisted of a drive through an urban section of the simulator's visual data base where each subject encountered a Type 1, 2 and 3 intersections. A total of 40 subjects, 25 males and 15 females were recruited for the experiment. Data logging at 60 Hz for each scenario consisted of time-stamped values of x-position and y-position of the simulator vehicle, steering, accelerator and brake inputs by the driver, and vehicle speed. After the experiment a questionnaire soliciting opinions and reactions about each intersection was administered. Simulator experiment results showed that there was a significant difference between the merge lengths for the two cases of Type 1 intersection (lane drop on the downstream side of the intersection). For Type 2 intersection (misalignment of traffic lanes between the approach and downstream side) there was a considerable difference between the average paths followed by subjects for the two cases. For Type 3 intersection (shared left and through traffic lane approaching the intersection) the simulator experiment supported the fact that people get frustrated when trapped behind a left turning vehicle in a joint left and through lane intersection and take evasive actions to cross the intersection as soon as possible.

Due to comfort, convenience, and flexibility, taxis become more and more prevalent in China, especially in large cities. According to a survey reported by Beijing Traffic Development Research Center, there were 696 million taxi person-rides in Beijing in 2011. However, many violations and road crashes that were related to taxi drivers occurred more frequently. The survey showed that there were a total of 17,242 taxi violations happened in Beijing in only one month in 2003, which accounted for 56% of all drivers' violations. Besides, taxi drivers also had a larger accident rate than other drivers, which showed that nearly 20% of taxi drivers had accidents each year. This study mainly focuses on investigating differences in driving behavior between taxi drivers and non-professional drivers. To examine the overall characteristics of taxi drivers and non-professional drivers, this study applied a hierarchical driving behavior assessment method to evaluate driving behaviors. This method is divided into three levels, including low-risk level, medium-risk level, and high-risk level. Low-risk level means the basic vehicle control. Medium-risk level refers to the vehicle dynamic decision. High-risk level represents the driver avoidance behavior when facing a potential crash. The Beijing Jiatong University (BJTU) driving simulator was applied to test different risk level scenarios which purpose is to find out the differences between taxi drivers and non-professional drivers on driving behaviors. Nearly 60 subjects, which include taxi drivers and non-professional drivers, were recruited in this experiment. Some statistical methods were applied to analyze the data and a logistic regression model was used to perform the high-risk level. The results showed that taxi drivers have more driving experience and their driving style is more conservative in the basic vehicle control level. For the car following behavior, taxi drivers have smaller following speed and larger gap compared to other drivers. For the yellow indication judgment behavior, although taxi drivers are slower than non-professional drivers when getting into the intersection, taxi drivers are more likely to run red light. For the lane changing behavior, taxi drivers' lane changing time is longer than others and lane changing average speed of taxi drivers is lower than other drivers. Another different behavior in high-risk level is that taxi drivers are more inclined to turn the steering wheel when facing a potential crash compared to non-professional drivers. However, non-professional drivers have more abrupt deceleration behaviors if they have the same situation. According to the experiment results, taxi drivers have a smaller crash rate compared to non-professional drivers. Taxi drivers spend a large amount of time on the road so that their driving experience must exceed that of non-professional drivers, which may bring them more skills. It is also speculated that because taxi drivers spend long hours on the job they probably have developed a more relaxed attitude about congestion and they are less likely to be candidates for road rage and over aggressive driving habits.

No description available.

No description available.

Studies that explore integration of visual, auditory or vestibular cues, are derived from stimulus detection and discrimination tasks in which stimuli are selective and controlled. Multisensory processing is not as well understood in more dynamic and realistic tasks such as driving. As visual information is the dominant source of information when controlling a vehicle, we were interested in the contribution of auditory and physical motion (vestibular and proprioceptive) information to vehicle control. The simulated environment consisted of a straight, two-lane road and the task was to drive in the center of the right lane and maintain a constant speed, slowing down for occasional speed bumps. We examined differences in driving performance under four sets of sensory cues: visual only, visual and auditory, visual and physical motion, and visual, auditory and physical motion. The quality of visual information was manipulated across two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants drove in daylight in sunny weather, providing excellent visual information. In Experiment 2, visual information was compromised by providing dark and stormy weather conditions. In both experiments we observed an advantage of multisensory information, an effect that was enhanced when visual information was compromised. Auditory cues were especially effective in improving driver control. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Multisensory processing (combining information from different sensory systems) is not well understood in realistic tasks such as driving. A simulated environment consisted of a straight, two-lane road was used for this study. The task was to drive in the center of the right lane and maintain a constant speed, slowing down for occasional speed bumps. We examined differences in driving performance under four sets of sensory cues: visual only, visual and auditory, visual and physical motion, and visual, auditory and physical motion. The visual information was manipulated across two experiments: first, participants drove in daylight in sunny weather, providing excellent visual information. Next, visual information was compromised by providing dark and stormy weather conditions. In both experiments we observed an advantage of multisensory information, an effect that was enhanced when visual information was compromised. Auditory cues were especially effective in improving driver control.