In-vehicle display HMI safety evaluation using a driving simulator

Recently, telematics services and in-vehicle display devices such as the CNS (Car Navigation System) have become new causes of traffic accidents. These accidents are caused by ‘Inattention’ from the increase of the driver’s mental workload while he/she is driving. The driver of a vehicle (except for emergency or police vehicles) must not use a hand-held mobile phone while the vehicle is moving. To address this problem, Australia, England, Italy, Brazil and some states in the US have banned the use of hand-held mobile devices during driving. However, there are no restrictions on the use of in-vehicle displays or on the display’s positions. The position of a navigation system in a vehicle should be assessed objectively, and the effect of the position on the driver’s attention should be studied. Some existing research reports that in-vehicle distraction not only leads to reduced speeds and more frequent lane switching, but also more gazing by the driver to the centre of the road. In this study, to develop an assessment method and to propose the proper position of a CNS, an experiment is carried out in a driving simulator environment. Different methods to track the gaze and physical parameters of the driver are used for HMI (Human-Machine Interface) assessment. The experiment is carried out in a driving simulator to observe the glancing distribution during driving according to the position of the navigation system. Fourteen subjects participated in this experiment. Changes in subjects’ physiological signals and glancing distribution rates were collected.     

由路面引起的汽车振动能量耗散特性频域分析

针对行驶过程中由路面引起的汽车振动能量耗散问题，提出了基于汽车振动二自由度单轮模型的能量耗散特性频域分析方法。采用汽车振动二自由度单轮模型推导了模型的频率响应，确定了能量耗散振动响应量及其频率响应。将路面激励功率谱密度与振动响应量的功率谱密度和均方根值相结合，建立了能量耗散振动响应量统计特性和振动能量耗散平均功率的表示。采用Matlab开发了汽车振动二自由度单轮模型的能量耗散特性频域分析仿真程序，通过3种分析方案研究了由路面引起的汽车振动能量耗散特性。结果表明，汽车振动能量耗散平均功率与速度和路面等级相关，受到路面等级的影响较大；在以B级路面为主的国内城市行驶工况下，由路面引起的汽车振动能量耗散平均功率比较低。     

基于无限长梁模型的车路振动耦合系统半解析解

针对无限长道路与车辆耦合系统响应计算复杂难题,考虑地基的弹性特性与道路不平度,建立基于无限长欧拉-伯努利梁模型的车路振动耦合系统。进而以车辆为参考点建立移动坐标系,提出通过积分变换推导耦合系统振动响应解析解的方法,并应用留数定理对其进行数值计算,获得车辆垂向位移、加速度、路面振动响应等系统响应的半解析解。与传统应用模态叠加法的有限长道路与车辆耦合响应相比,具有更高的计算效率与精度,系统参数化研究也证明了该半解析解的有效性。     

Comparative study between Korea and UK: relationship between driving style and real-world fuel consumption

It is known that differences in driving styles have a significant impact on fuel efficiency and driving styles are affected by various factors such as driver characteristics, street environment, traffic situation, vehicle performance, and weather conditions. However, existing knowledge about the relationship between driving style and fuel consumption is limited. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the relationship beteen driving style and fuel consumption. The analysis presented in this paper used data from three on-road experiments were conducted independently in two different countries, i.e. South Korea and the United Kingdom. In this study, 91 participants, consisting 44 UK drivers and 47 Korean drivers, were asked to drive approximately 28 km of UK road and 21 km of Korean road, respectively. Driving data, including real-time fuel consumption, vehicle speed, and acceleration pedal usage were collected. The results suggested that driving styles including average vehicle speed and average throttle position were highly correlated with the real-world fuel consumption, and the cultural factors, e.g. road environment, traffic design, and driver’s characteristics affected the driving styles and, consequently, fuel efficiency.     

Biodynamic responses of seated pregnant subjects exposed to vertical vibrations in driving conditions

A pregnant woman's body is a very sophisticated dynamic system that is sensitive to whole-body vibrations in a sitting posture. While much effort has been devoted to vibration effects on non-pregnant seated persons, little research has been devoted to the biodynamic responses of seated pregnant women exposed to vertical vibrations, especially in driving conditions. In this study a thorough survey of lumped-parameter models for non-pregnant seated persons is implemented. According to the literature the mathematical models adequate for representing the increase in mass due to pregnancy are proposed and evaluated systematically. On the basis of an analytical study and experimental validation, the six-degree-of-freedom model modified from the non-linear model proposed by Muksian and Nash is recommended. In addition, the recommended pregnant model is further integrated with two-dimensional half-car and three-dimensional full-car models to assess the responses of pregnant drivers or passengers exposed to vertical vibrations due to road unevenness. It is believed that the study presented in this report provides a profound understanding of biodynamic responses of seated pregnant women and that it may offer vehicle engineers a good reference in the design of vehicle suspension systems.     

Human driving data-based design of a vehicle adaptive cruise control algorithm

This paper presents a vehicle adaptive cruise control algorithm design with human factors considerations. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems should be acceptable to drivers. In order to be acceptable to drivers, the ACC systems need to be designed based on the analysis of human driver driving behaviour. Manual driving characteristics are investigated using real-world driving test data. The goal of the control algorithm is to achieve naturalistic behaviour of the controlled vehicle that would feel natural to the human driver in normal driving situations and to achieve safe vehicle behaviour in severe braking situations in which large decelerations are necessary. A non-dimensional warning index and inverse time-to-collision are used to evaluate driving situations. A confusion matrix method based on natural driving data sets was used to tune control parameters in the proposed ACC system. Using a simulation and a validated vehicle simulator, vehicle following characteristics of the controlled vehicle are compared with real-world manual driving radar sensor data. It is shown that the proposed control strategy can provide with natural following performance similar to human manual driving in both high speed driving and low speed stop-and-go situations and can prevent the vehicle-to-vehicle distance from dropping to an unsafe level in a variety of driving conditions.     

Biodynamic responses of seated pregnant subjects exposed to vertical vibrations in driving conditions

A pregnant woman's body is a very sophisticated dynamic system that is sensitive to whole-body vibrations in a sitting posture. While much effort has been devoted to vibration effects on non-pregnant seated persons, little research has been devoted to the biodynamic responses of seated pregnant women exposed to vertical vibrations, especially in driving conditions. In this study a thorough survey of lumped-parameter models for non-pregnant seated persons is implemented. According to the literature the mathematical models adequate for representing the increase in mass due to pregnancy are proposed and evaluated systematically. On the basis of an analytical study and experimental validation, the six-degree-of-freedom model modified from the non-linear model proposed by Muksian and Nash is recommended. In addition, the recommended pregnant model is further integrated with two-dimensional half-car and three-dimensional full-car models to assess the responses of pregnant drivers or passengers exposed to vertical vibrations due to road unevenness. It is believed that the study presented in this report provides a profound understanding of biodynamic responses of seated pregnant women and that it may offer vehicle engineers a good reference in the design of vehicle suspension systems.     

驾驶中拨打手机对驾驶人脑力负荷及驾驶行为的影响分析

基于驾驶模拟实验平台,选择高速公路、城市道路2种交通环境,对3名低龄驾驶人正常驾驶与拨打手机驾驶情况下的脑力负荷及驾驶行为表征指标进行了全程监测。每组实验时间约为15min。其中,脑力负荷评估采用心率变异性相关指标,驾驶行为表征采用后视镜使用、转向灯使用、档位变换及速度变化等指标。实验结果表明,相比于正常状态驾驶中拨打手机时心率变异性指标,出现了驾驶人LFNU指标增大、HFNU指标减小、LF/HF比值明显增大、TP增大的现象,规律明显。在排除驾驶疲劳对心电指标产生影响的可能后,可初步判定出现以上现象的原因是拨打手机引起了驾驶人脑力负荷的大幅增加。在驾驶人认知资源有限的情况下,脑力负荷的增大造成了驾驶人在信息获取、转向灯使用、档位变换和车速保持等方面的能力有不同程度的下降。综上所述,驾驶中拨打手机使得驾驶人脑力负荷大幅增加,进而对驾驶行为产生了诸多负面影响,给交通安全带来了隐患。因此,建议相关部门在法律、法规中对驾驶中拨打手机的行为加以限制,以减少交通事故风险。     

虚拟激励法人-车-路三质量车辆模型平顺性分析

为评价汽车平顺性,建立简化的人体-座椅、车身及车轮三质量1／4车辆模型,给出了该模型振动系统的频响特性公式,采用虚拟激励法,构造虚拟路面激励,运用matlab编程求取所建模型系统振动响应量的功率谱密度,并进行了行驶平顺性分析。结果表明,汽车行驶速度与道路路面条件是影响汽车行驶平顺性主要外在因素,为获得良好的汽车行驶平顺性,应加以改善;虚拟激励法用于求解车辆振动响应,快速高效,能很好地反映汽车行驶的平顺性,提高汽车平顺性设计水平与效率。     

On-road assessment of in-vehicle driving workload for older drivers: Design guidelines for intelligent vehicles

There has been recent interest in intelligent vehicle technologies, such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs) or in-vehicle information systems (IVISs), that offer a significant enhancement of safety and convenience to drivers and passengers. However, the use of ADAS- and IVIS-based information devices may increase driver distraction and workload, which in turn can increase the chance of traffic accidents. The number of traffic accidents involving older drivers that are due to distraction, misjudgment, and delayed detection of danger, all of which are related to the drivers’ declining physical and cognitive capabilities, has increased. Because the death rate in traffic accidents is higher when older drivers are involved, finding ways to reduce the distraction and workload of older drivers is important. This paper generalizes driver information device operations and assesses the workload while driving by means of experiments involving 40 drivers in real cars under actual road conditions. Five driving tasks (manual only, manual primarily, visual only, visual primarily, and visual-manual) and three age groups (younger (20–29 years of age), middle-aged (40–49 years of age), and older (60–69 years of age)) were considered in investigating the effect of age-related workload difference. Data were collected from 40 drivers who drove in a real car under actual road conditions. The experimental results showed that age influences driver workload while performing in-vehicle tasks.     

A novel fuzzy logic correctional algorithm for traction control systems on uneven low-friction road conditions

The traction control system (TCS) might prevent excessive skid of the driving wheels so as to enhance the driving performance and direction stability of the vehicle. But if driven on an uneven low-friction road, the vehicle body often vibrates severely due to the drastic fluctuations of driving wheels, and then the vehicle comfort might be reduced greatly. The vibrations could be hardly removed with traditional drive-slip control logic of the TCS. In this paper, a novel fuzzy logic controller has been brought forward, in which the vibration signals of the driving wheels are adopted as new controlled variables, and then the engine torque and the active brake pressure might be coordinately re-adjusted besides the basic logic of a traditional TCS. In the proposed controller, an adjustable engine torque and pressure compensation loop are adopted to constrain the drastic vehicle vibration. Thus, the wheel driving slips and the vibration degrees might be adjusted synchronously and effectively. The simulation results and the real vehicle tests validated that the proposed algorithm is effective and adaptable for a complicated uneven low-friction road.     

Development of a driving cycle for the measurement of fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of automobiles in Bangkok during peak periods

The exhaust emissions and fuel consumption rates of newly registered automobiles in Thailand are currently assessed using the standard driving cycle of the Economic Commission of Europe (ECE). Because of the highly different driving conditions, the assessment results may not reflect realistic amounts of emissions and fuel consumption for vehicles in Bangkok traffic, which is well known for its congestion. The objective of this study is therefore to develop a new driving cycle for vehicles traveling on Bangkok’s main roads during peak traffic hours. This paper first presents the development of a method for selecting representative road routes with traffic conditions that are representative of traffic in Bangkok for conducting real-world driving speed data collection. These real-world data are obtained by driving a car equipped with a speed-time data logger along those selected road routes. Several driving characteristics, including various profiles of microtrips, are analyzed from the collected speed-time data, and a number of target driving parameters are then defined for use as a set of criteria to justify the best driving cycle. A procedure for generating driving cycles from the analyzed real-driving data is also developed, and the method to select the cycle that is most representative of Bangkok traffic is described. Comparisons found in the study show that the target driving parameters of the newly developed driving cycle are much closer to those obtained from the real-world measured data than those calculated from the presently used European drive cycle. This would imply that the obtained driving cycle will produce more realistic results of the emissions and fuel consumption assessment tests for vehicles traveling in Bangkok. The methods developed in this study for route selection and driving cycle construction can easily be adopted by other big cities to develop their own vehicle driving cycles. Furthermore, although the developed methods are for passenger cars, similar approaches can be applied to develop driving cycles for other types of vehicle, such as city buses and pick-up trucks.     

船员工作负荷检测方法研究综述

水上交通安全是水路运输领域的研究热点，船员驾驶行为及决策对水上交通安全有直接的影响，而驾驶行为表现及决策的制定与工作负荷密切相关。因此，船员工作负荷检测研究对预防人为因素导致的水上交通安全事故具有重要意义。通过对船员工作负荷影响因素进行梳理分析，发现个体因素、驾驶任务、驾驶环境以及船舶工况等是影响工作负荷的主要因素。从主观评测方法、任务绩效测量方法和生理数据检测方法3个方面对船员工作负荷检测研究方法进行归纳总结。总结发现:任务绩效测量方法在研究过程中存在一定局限性，主观评测和生理数据检测方法具有易获取数据、对驾驶过程干扰较小等优势，是现阶段较为主流的方法。指出了船员工作负荷检测研究的发展趋势，主要包括工作负荷定量化研究、工作负荷综合评价模型构建、多因素工作负荷影响研究、船员工作负荷实时监测系统构建。      

基于驾驶工作负荷的高海拔地区隧道照明亮度分析

为研究高海拔地区与平原区驾驶员驾驶工作负荷差异特性以得到适用于高海拔地区的隧道照明亮度需求，以及客观量化高海拔地区公路隧道照明设计与管理标准提供理论、方法与技术依据，基于驾驶员驾驶工作负荷理论，从驾驶视认安全、稳定和舒适性的角度，分别在道路运行条件相似的江西宜安Ⅱ级公路和青藏公路高原青藏段（公路－Ⅱ级）设计实车试验进行定量研究。1）运用CART分类方法分析实地驾驶试验数据，发现海拔高度与驾驶员正常行驶的驾驶工作负荷之间呈正相关关系： 平原区驾驶员驾驶需求最低、驾驶工作负荷度最小，海拔高度3 200～3 300 m驾驶工作负荷度居中，海拔高度4 300～4 400 m驾驶工作负荷度最大。2）通过分析得到高海拔地区驾驶员驾驶工作负荷可根据海拔高度进行修正，得到修正系数和驾驶工作负荷度阈限。3）提出高海拔地区隧道照明视认需求相对于平原区的修正系数，海拔高度3 200～3 300 m时为1.2，海拔高度4 300～4 400 m时为1.8。4）得到不同海拔高度公路隧道各个特征段照明亮度设计标准。     

Characteristic analysis for cognition of dangerous driving using automobile black boxes

Automobile black boxes are devices that collect information regarding vehicle operation and the driver’s operating situation in the case of a traffic accident. The information collected from the automobile black box, which can also be used during normal driving, can provide information about dangerous driving cognition. This study was designed to analyze characteristics of dangerous driving data and build a dangerous driving cognition system as follows. First, dangerous driving is divided into four types by considering the vehicle’s movement, such as acceleration, deceleration, turning and statistical data of traffic accidents. Second, dangerous driving data were collected by vehicle tests using the automobile black box, and characteristics of the driving data were analyzed to classify dangerous driving. Third, a standard threshold was chosen to recognize dangerous driving, and an algorithm of dangerous driving cognition was created. Finally, verification was conducted by vehicle tests with automobile black boxes embedded with the developed algorithm. The presented recognition methods of dangerous driving can be used for on/off-line management of drivers and vehicles. Scientific traffic accident databases can be built with this driving and accident information, and can be used in various industrial areas.     

交通荷载作用下市政道路路面振动测试与分析

对市政道路进行减隔振设计,需先研究交通车辆荷载引起的道路振动特性。实测了广州市南大路和番禺大道北辅路在四种车辆和混合车流时的路面振动加速度,并对测试数据进行峰值、频谱、VLz振级分析,研究车辆荷载引起的市政道路振动规律。结果表明:道路振动加速度响应幅值与汽车轴重、行驶速度、道路结构刚度密切相关,随着汽车轴重、车辆行驶速度和道路刚度的增大而增大;汽车荷载激励以竖向振动为主,频率主要在5.0～40.0 Hz之间,能量集中于10.0~20.0Hz范围。     

Vehicle sideslip estimation and compensation for banked road

The sideslip driving status is of fundamental importance to the stability of a vehicle. This paper presents a practical vehicle sideslip driving status estimation method that uses ESP (electronic stability program) sensors. ESP sensors such as wheel speed, lateral acceleration, yaw rate and steering wheel angle sensors are used to determine the sideslip driving status and distinguish a banked road. This estimation algorithm contains front-rear sideslip and banked road detection methods. The proposed sideslip estimation algorithm was designed to use the analytical redundancy of these sensors and Lagrange interpolation methods. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed estimation and compensation algorithm were investigated using vehicle tests. This paper presents the results of two cases that were used for the experimental verification: a curved flat road and banked road.     

An optimal torque distribution control strategy for four-independent wheel drive electric vehicles

In this paper, an optimal torque distribution approach is proposed for electric vehicle equipped with four independent wheel motors to improve vehicle handling and stability performance. A novel objective function is formulated which works in a multifunctional way by considering the interference among different performance indices: forces and moment errors at the centre of gravity of the vehicle, actuator control efforts and tyre workload usage. To adapt different driving conditions, a weighting factors tuning scheme is designed to adjust the relative weight of each performance in the objective function. The effectiveness of the proposed optimal torque distribution is evaluated by simulations with CarSim and Matlab/Simulink. The simulation results under different driving scenarios indicate that the proposed control strategy can effectively improve the vehicle handling and stability even in slippery road conditions.     

Vehicle interior noise model based on a power law

Identifying the components of a vehicle’s interior noise is important in many phases of the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) development process. Many test methods that have been widely used in the automobile industry to separate noise sources are based on system identification methods in the frequency domain. However, none of the frequency response function-based methods can directly estimate the wind noise component. In this article, an analytical model for the interior noise level based on a simple power law was developed. It was assumed that the mean squared acoustic pressure for the interior noise could be obtained by summing up those of the wind noise, road noise, and background noise. The wind noise and road noise were further assumed to depend only on wind speed and the vehicle’s driving speed, respectively, and to follow a simple power law. The resulting analytical model includes five parameters that can be optimized for the vehicle and the road. The validity of the model was verified by using data obtained from cruise tests performed on a proving ground for cruise speeds ranging from 40 km/h to 130 km/h. The model is applied to the overall and 1/3-octave bands of interior noise and is shown to describe the data trends fairly well. For the test vehicle used in the present work, the overall mean squared pressures for the wind and road noise components are shown to be proportional to the wind speed to the 5.8 power and to the driving speed to the 3.4 power, respectively.     

基于因子模型的高速公路特长隧道驾驶人心理负荷特性研究

为研究驾驶人行驶通过特长隧道环境中的心理负荷变化特性,选取2座典型特长隧道进行实车试验,采集驾驶人实时心电信号,以心率和心率变异性指标分析为基础,通过数据挖掘构建了基于因子分析的心理负荷计算模型,采用心率变异性频域分析结果对模型进行验证。研究结果表明：心率变异性指标在计算心理负荷时比心率指标具有更高的效度和信度,驾驶人在距离隧道入口较远处和距离隧道出口较近时负荷较大;在隧道路段和普通高速路段,熟悉试验道路的驾驶人平均心理负荷小于不熟悉试验道路的驾驶人;被试在隧道路段的平均心理负荷大小依次为入口段、出口段、行车段,熟练驾驶人心理负荷在特长隧道入口前300 m至前180 m范围受到的影响最为明显;非熟练驾驶人心理负荷在入口前300 m至入口后240 m范围受到的影响最为明显。上述结果说明：在隧道出、入口段,尤其是入口段驾驶人负荷过高,也是造成事故数量多的主要原因之一;熟悉道路条件可在一定程度上降低驾驶人心理负荷;普通高速路段虽然行车环境较好,但运行车速过高也会造成驾驶人负荷增加。熟练驾驶人心理负荷在隧道入口前升高,而非熟练驾驶人心理负荷在进入隧道后仍保持较高水平。