The diploma thesis deals with the issue of control the situation behind the vehicle, in the theoretical part discusses the indirect view from the vehicle, reaction time and possibilities of its measurement and the possibilities of measuring eye movements using eye trackers, The second part of the thesis deals with the description of the measurement method used to obtain the needed data and the analysis of the situation behind the vehicle using rear view mirrors by analyzing the duration of the fixations in the rear view mirrors and the total duration of the view in the rear view mirrors.

<p>The automotive field is becoming more and more complex and cars are no longer just pure mechanical artifacts. Today much more than 50 % of the functionality of a car is computerized, so, a modern car system is obviously based on mixed technologies which emphasize the need for new approaches to the design process compared to the processes of yesterday. A corresponding technology shift has been experienced in the aerospace industry starting in the late sixties and today aircraft could not fly without its computers and the pilots’ environment has turned to a so called glass cockpit with no iron-made instrumentation left. A very similar change is still going on in the automotive area.</p><p>Simulator-Based Design (SBD) refers to design, development and testing new products, systems and applications which include an operator in their operation. Simulator-Based Design has been used for decades in the aviation industry. It has been a common process in this field. SBD may be considered as a more specific application of simulation-based design, where the specific feature is a platform, the simulator itself. The simulator could consist of a generic computer environment in combination with dedicated hardware components, for instance a cockpit. This solution gives us the possibility of including the human operator in the simulation.</p><p>The name of the project is Simulator-Based Design in Practice. The purpose of this master thesis is to get a complete practice in how to use a human-in-the-loop simulator as a tool in design activities focusing on the automotive area. This application area may be seen as an example of systems where an operator is included in the operation and thus experience from the car application could be transferred to other areas like aviation or control rooms in the process industry.</p><p>During the performance of the project we have gone through the main parts of the SBD process. There are many steps to complete the whole cycle and many of them have iterative loops that connect these steps with the previous one. This process starts with a concept (product/system) and continues with a virtual prototyping stage followed by implementation, test design, human-in-the-loop simulation, data analysis, design synthesis and in the end a product/system decision. An iterative process approach makes the cycle flexible and goal oriented.</p><p>We have learnt how to use the simulator and how to perform the whole cycle of SBD. We first started getting familiar with the simulator and the ASim software and then we were trying to reduce the number of computers in the simulator and changing the network in order to find good optimization pf the computer power. The second step has been to implement a new application to the simulator. This new application is the rear mirror view and consists of a new LCD monitor and the rear view vision that must be seen in the new monitor. Finally we updated the cockpit to the new language program Action Script 3.0.</p><p>The information gathering consisted of the course Human-System interaction in the University, the introduction course to ASim software and the course of Action Script 3.0.</p>

The automotive field is becoming more and more complex and cars are no longer just pure mechanical artifacts. Today much more than 50 % of the functionality of a car is computerized, so, a modern car system is obviously based on mixed technologies which emphasize the need for new approaches to the design process compared to the processes of yesterday. A corresponding technology shift has been experienced in the aerospace industry starting in the late sixties and today aircraft could not fly without its computers and the pilots’ environment has turned to a so called glass cockpit with no iron-made instrumentation left. A very similar change is still going on in the automotive area. Simulator-Based Design (SBD) refers to design, development and testing new products, systems and applications which include an operator in their operation. Simulator-Based Design has been used for decades in the aviation industry. It has been a common process in this field. SBD may be considered as a more specific application of simulation-based design, where the specific feature is a platform, the simulator itself. The simulator could consist of a generic computer environment in combination with dedicated hardware components, for instance a cockpit. This solution gives us the possibility of including the human operator in the simulation. The name of the project is Simulator-Based Design in Practice. The purpose of this master thesis is to get a complete practice in how to use a human-in-the-loop simulator as a tool in design activities focusing on the automotive area. This application area may be seen as an example of systems where an operator is included in the operation and thus experience from the car application could be transferred to other areas like aviation or control rooms in the process industry. During the performance of the project we have gone through the main parts of the SBD process. There are many steps to complete the whole cycle and many of them have iterative loops that connect these steps with the previous one. This process starts with a concept (product/system) and continues with a virtual prototyping stage followed by implementation, test design, human-in-the-loop simulation, data analysis, design synthesis and in the end a product/system decision. An iterative process approach makes the cycle flexible and goal oriented. We have learnt how to use the simulator and how to perform the whole cycle of SBD. We first started getting familiar with the simulator and the ASim software and then we were trying to reduce the number of computers in the simulator and changing the network in order to find good optimization pf the computer power. The second step has been to implement a new application to the simulator. This new application is the rear mirror view and consists of a new LCD monitor and the rear view vision that must be seen in the new monitor. Finally we updated the cockpit to the new language program Action Script 3.0. The information gathering consisted of the course Human-System interaction in the University, the introduction course to ASim software and the course of Action Script 3.0.

The primary function of an automobile rear View Mirror is to provide the driver with a clear vision interpretation of all objects to the rear and side of the vehicle. The rear View Mirror is a bluff body and there are several problems associated with the rear View Mirror. These include buffeting, image distortion (due to aerodynamically induced and structural vibration), aerodynamically induced noise (due to cavities and gaps) and water and dirt accumulation on Mirror glass Surface. Due to excessive glass vibration, the rear View Mirror may not provide a clear image. Thus, vibrations of Mirror can severely impair the driver's vision and safety of the vehicle and its occupants. The rear View Mirrors are generally located close to the A-pillar region on the side window. A conical vortex forms on the side window close to A-pillar due to A-pillar geometry and the presence of side rear View Mirror and flow separation from it makes the airflow even more complex. The primary objective of this work is to study the aerodynamic pressures on Mirror Surface at Various speeds to determine the effects of aerodynamics on to Mirror vibration. Additionally, the Mirror was modified by Shrouding around the external periphery to determine the possibility of minimisation of aerodynamic pressure fluctuations and thereby vibration. The Shrouding length used for the analysis was of 24mm, 34mm and 44mm length. The mean and fluctuating pressures were measured using a production rear side View Mirror fitted to a ¼ quarter production passenger car in RMIT Industrial Wind Tunnel. The tests were also conducted in semi-isolation condition to understand influence of the A-pillar geometry. The mean and fluctuating pressures were converted into non-dimensional pressure coefficients (Cp and Cprms) and the frequency content of the fluctuating pressure was analysed. The results show that the fluctuating aerodynamic pressures are not uniformly distributed over an automobile Mirror Surface. The highest magnitude of fluctuating pressure for the standard Mirror was found at the central bottom part of the Mirror Surface. The highest magnitude of fluctuating pressure for the modified Mirror was found at the central top part of the Mirror Surface. As expected, the modification has significant effect on the magnitude of fluctuating pressure. The results show that an increase of Shrouding length reduces the magnitude of the fluctuating pressure. The frequency-based analysis was done to understand the energy characteristics of the flow, particularly to its phase, since it is the out of phase components that usually cause Mirror rotational vibration. The spectral analysis showed that the magnitude of the energy distribution reduces with increase of shrouding length throughout the frequency range. Flow visualisation was also used to supplement the pressure data. The effects of yaw angles were not included in this study, however, are thought to be worthy of further investigation. On road testing and the variation of mirror locations might have some effects on the fluctuating pressures. These need to be investigated in the future work. The quarter model used in this study was a car specific. However, for more generic results, a simplified model with variable geometry can be used in future study.

To perform lane-change maneuvers safely, sufficient distance to the subsequent traffic is required. In the present study distance estimations to the subsequent vehicle (Experiment 1) and lane-change decisions (Experiment 2) were gathered in dependency of left wing-mirror settings: Different vertical settings resulted in low and high vehicle positions with less or more pavement visible in the mirror. Additionally, the visibility or non-visibility of the observer's rear door was varied. Findings indicated that a low vertical position of the following vehicle in the mirror and a visible rear door lead to shorter distance estimations and more cautious lane-change decisions than a high vertical position and a non-visible rear door. Consequently, wing-mirror settings are important for traffic safety.

This thesis solves design of functional device that will be able to automatically positioning back view mirrors according to the positio of driver face. Measuring position of the face provides stereovision of two webacams. The device is based on a computer Raspberry Pi 2 with designed expansion board. The created prototype can follow set view int the mirror with accuracy up to 7 cm (horizontally up to 5cm) in level of rear corner of a car. The results of this project validate design of automatic positioning mirror and it can be basis for specific implementations of the device in car.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of the driver's view from the vehicle, respectively the measurement of the field of views and blind spots. This thesis takes into account the 360° view around the vehicle. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the theoretical outlook of the vehicle. The reader becomes acquainted with the progressive development of the 360° view in a vehicle, beginning with the past and leading up to the present enhancements in today's vehicles. The reader will also understand, the position and movement of the eyes in a vehicle, the detailed description of the direct forward look, and the indirect reverse look. Subsequently, the theoretical part is devoted to the methodology of visibility measurements according to the prescribed standards of SAE and EHK. The theoretical part concludes with a chapter explaining how the theory is used in the practical part of the thesis. The practical part is devoted to the design of the 360° views of the vehicle and the description of the methodology. Another element of the practical part is the measurement protocol. This section deals with all the calculations for the complete driver's view, which was shown as an example on one of the sixteen vehicles measured. The last chapter compares, evaluates and reviews the results of all measured 360° views and blind spots around the vehicle.

The dissertation thesis deals mainly with determining of the duration that driver needs to assess the situation behind his vehicle at manoeuvers of turning and overtaking, based on the measurements made in real road traffic. These are common and frequent driving manoeuvers, which the driver performs while driving the vehicle in regular road traffic. For their safe execution the driver needs to have sufficient amount of information about the situation around the vehicle and especially behind the vehicle. This information can driver usually gain from devices for indirect vision, most often rear view mirrors. The time thus defined, suitable e.g for the needs of forensic engineering applications for the analysis of road accidents, has not been studied in detail yet. For the purpose of its determination, therefore, an extensive analysis of the current state of problematics related to the indirect vision from the vehicle was carried out. There were formulated influences on the time duration and with this related characteristics of humans as a part of the driver-vehicle-environment system in the thesis. The characteristics of human perception were investigated and the problematics of reaction time was discussed. Existing research focused on the duration of rear view mirrors glances was analyzed and possible methods of its measurement in detail were presented by author. Based on this, an experiment was designed and realized, the time necessary for rear view mirror glances was defined by the author. The results enable to quantify the time that the driver needs for assessing the situation behind the vehicle in connection of turning, overtaking and other driving manoeuvers when the driver needs to change the driving direction. The conclusions showed that the time needed to evaluate the situation behind the vehicle by means of the rear-view mirrors does not normally exceed duration 1 second.