Browsing by Subject "Driving simulators"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Driving Performance
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2009-01) Bloomfield, John; Harder, Kathleen A.; Chihak, Benjamin J.
    Each of twenty commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers participated in a single twenty-hour experimental session, during which they were continuously kept awake, but were allowed to ingest caffeine and use tobacco as they would in real-world conditions. Each participant drove in a fixed-base advanced driving simulator for approximately one hour on four occasions (at 9:00 am, 3:00 pm, 9:00 pm, and 3:00 am). The 59.5-mile (95.8-km) test route was designed with overpasses and intersections and changes in speed limits—to make the driving experience more like real-word driving. After the fourth drive, the participants were driven to the University of Minnesota’s General Clinical Research Center, where they slept for eight hours. The main result was that the steering performance of CMV drivers was impaired when they stayed awake for an extended period: There was a considerable increase in steering instability between the morning drive, at 9:00 am, and the nighttime drive, at 3:00 pm—an increase likely to have been produced by sleep deprivation. [Other results were: (1) stopping behavior improved throughout the session—suggesting practice effects; (2) after the fourth drive, there was less reduction in the participants’ pupil size—but, since there was no difference in pupil size before the fourth drive, there was no evidence to suggest that pupil size reductions could be used to predict sleep deprivation; (3) data from other visual performance tests showed no effect of time of day; and, (4) results obtained from reaction time tests did not show decrements in performance—instead there may have been practice effects.]
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Examining Optimal Sight Distances at Rural Intersections
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation., 2019-07) Morris, Nichole L.; Craig, Curtis M.; Achtemeier, Jacob D.
    Decisions made regarding driver sight distance at rural intersections are complex and require considerations for safety, efficiency, and environmental factors. Sight distance, cross-traffic velocity, and vehicle placements significantly affect driver judgment and behavior atthese intersections. A series of rural, two-lane thru-STOP simulated intersections with differing sight distances and traffic speeds were created and then validated by county and state engineers. Experimental data from 36 participants in a time-to-collision (TTC) intersection crossing judgment task and a rural highway thru-STOP intersection driving simulation task was analyzed to clarify the influence of rural thru-STOP intersection characteristics on driving performance and decision-making. Results demonstrated that longer sight distances of1,000 ft. and slower crossing speeds (i.e., 55 mph) were more accommodating for participants attempting to select gaps and cross from the minor road, corresponding with (1) lower mental workload, perceived risk, difficulty, and anxiousness, and (2) better performance in terms of estimated crash rate, and larger TTCs. Second, longer distances of 1,000 ft. appear to aid drivers’ responsiveness on the main road approaching an intersection, specifically when another driver on the minor road runs the stop sign. Minor road drivers positioned close tothe roadway at the stop sign, compared to standard stop bar placement, tended to help reduce the speed of main road drivers. Overall,results demonstrated a systematic improvement in the performance of both minor and major road drivers with the implementation of a1,000-foot sight distance at rural thru-STOP intersections.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Human Factors Evaluation of GAINS, a Prototype In-Vehicle Navigation System
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 1999-04) Smith, Thomas J.; Wade, Michael G.; Hammond, Curtis
    This project evaluated how driver interaction with an in-vehicle navigation system (IVNS) affects driving performance and safety. Researchers collected measures of simulated driving performance during interaction by 13 different subjects with an IVNS digital map display, using a Honda Acura placed within a fixed-base wrap-around driving simulator. Subjects (Ss) navigated along a maze-like route laid out within a simulated road grid. Dummy Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, corresponding to the position of the vehicle in the grid, were transmitted to the IVNS and updated continuously as vehicle position in the simulation environment changed. A digital map of the grid, with an icon representing vehicle representing vehicle position superimposed, was displayed on a laptop computer placed in the Acura. Under the control condition, Ss were not given turn instructions. Results indicate that for the test relative to the control condition: * Visual interaction with the IVNS display was greater and task completion times longer. * More variability in vehicle control was observed for measures of average vehicle speed, peak speed, percent braking time, peak braking pressure, and vehicle heading. Subjective responses from simulated driving and a separate group of on-road Ss identify both navigation benefits and possible safety problems with the system. It is a reasonable assumption that increased variability in driving performance elevates driving accident risk. Both the simulated driving and subjective response results, therefore, point to possible safety implications in IVNS use for the driving public. The findings suggest that as IVNS use becomes more widespread, both navigation benefits and possible adverse driving safety effects of such systems need to be considered.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    HumanFIRST Driving Simulation Educational Development
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2019-05) Morris, Nichole L.; Craig, Curtis M.; Achtemeier, Jacob D.; Easterlund, Peter
    The HumanFIRST Laboratory was recently awarded a grant through the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research tomatch funds to completely overhaul the laboratory’s driving simulators. This upgrade, which includes large touchscreen displays in theimmersive simulators’ cockpit, will allow the laboratory to conduct innovative research in the fields of connected vehicles, in-vehicle technologies, and automated vehicles. In addition, the visibility of the laboratory’s increased capabilities is expected to boost an alreadyfrequent demand for educational and training partnerships (particularly around high-risk behaviors, such as distraction and speeding) fromboth government and private groups. In addition to the value in education and dissemination of knowledge regarding roadway safety tothe greater community through demonstrations using the simulator, these partnerships often foster future opportunities for research partnerships and funding. Legacy driving scenarios will be updated to new simulator specifications. The creation of this new content is expected to allow new funding opportunities and will facilitate the research team to share its knowledge through educational and training opportunities within the regional community. This research leveraged the investment in the new simulator and propel the laboratory’s capabilities through the creation of three distinct simulated demonstrations focused on controlled hand-offs with automated vehicles,distracted driving via non-driving-related in-vehicle technologies, and speeding in pedestrian populated areas. These topics are keyresearch focus areas for the Roadway Safety Institute and are core focus areas for the HumanFIRST Laboratory and its funding stakeholders.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Improvement of Driving Simulator Eye Tracking Software
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2019-06) Davis, Brian; Morris, Nichole L.; Achtemeier, Jacob D.; Easterlund, Peter
    This work focuses on improving the eye tracking analysis tools used with the HumanFIRST driving simulator. Eye tracking is an important tool for simulation-based studies. It allows researchers to understand where participants are focusing their visual attention while driving. The eye tracking system provides a nearly continuous record of the direction in which the driver is looking with respect to real-world coordinates. However, this by itself does not give any information about the objects at which the driver is looking. To determine when a driver is fixated on a given element in the simulated world (e.g., a vehicle or sign), additional processing is necessary. Current methods to process this data are time and resource intensive, requiring a researcher to manually review the eye tracking data. This motivates an automated solution that can automatically and programmatically combine eye tracking and simulator data to determine at which object(s) (either in the real world or the simulated world) the driver is looking. This was accomplished by developing and implementing software capable of providing useful eye tracking data to researchers without requiring time and resource intensive human intervention and hand coding of data. The data generated by the analysis software was designed to provide a set of summary statistics and metrics that will be useful across different simulation studies. Additionally, visualization software was created to allow researchers to view key simulator and eye tracking data for context or insight or to identify and characterize anomalies in the analysis software. Overall, the software implemented will increase the efficiency with which eye tracking data can be used alongside simulator data.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Investigating the Effectiveness of Intelligent Lane Control Signals on Driver Behavior
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2012-08) Harder, Kathleen A.; Bloomfield, John R.
    A fully interactive PC-based STISIM driving simulator was used to test the effectiveness of Intelligent Lane Control Signals (ILCS). The participants were 160 licensed drivers from four age groups: 18-24, 32-47, 55-65, and 70+ years of age. Each participant drove three times in a counterbalanced order. In each trial, after driving five miles in the center lane of a six-lane highway where the speed limit was 65 mph, they encountered five sets of ILCSs that occurred at half-mile intervals. These ILCSs presented (1) 45-mph speed limit messages; (2) 35-mph speed limit messages; (3) a yellow lane closure warning; (4) one of three merge messages that used a diagonal arrow, or words, or dynamic chevrons to indicate that drivers should move from the center lane; (5) a red lane closure warning. Analysis of lane position data showed that the diagonal arrow merge sign was the most effective; participants moved from the center lane 266 feet before reaching the diagonal arrow merge sign, 123 feet before reaching the dynamic arrow merge sign, and 54 feet before the merge sign with words. Analysis of driving speed data indicated that the speed limit signs were effective. Before the 45-mile speed limit was visible, participants drove at 63 mph. When the 45-mph speed limit was visible, they reduced speed by approximately 10 mph. Then on the approach to the 35-mph speed limit, they reduced speed by a further 14 mph—on average, they were driving at 38.7 mph shortly after passing the 35-mph speed limit.