A preliminary study on the role of torque feedback in the steering wheel was conducted on the Clio dynamic driving simulator at RENAULT. An experiment comparing different torque feedback strategies was conducted to evaluate the potential of driving simulators in the study of future steer-by-wire systems. The results indicate that drivers on the simulator can control their vehicles in curves wit...

In an on-going research program, on the causation of injuries in motor vehicle accidents, at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, crashes with airbags have been, and are continuing to be, investigated. In order to determine the occurrence, if any, of 'hearing problems' associated with airbag deployments, drivers and passengers who had been involved in 'airbag' automobil...

Every year 15,000 people are killed on US highways in single vehicle roadway departure automobile crashes, often because of driver drowsiness or inattention. This talk will describe techniques we are developing to prevent these tragedies. Learning is central to this work due to the extreme variability of environmental conditions and individual driver styles. I will describe our recent progress ...

Automobile driving is a safety-critical real-world example of multitasking. A variety of roadway and in-vehicle distracter tasks create information processing loads that compete for the neural resources needed to drive safely. Drivers with mind and brain aging may be particularly susceptible to distraction due to waning cognitive resources and control over attention. This study examined distrac...

A preliminary study on the role of torque feedback in the steering wheel was conducted on the Clio dynamic driving simulator at RENAULT. An experiment comparing different torque feedback strategies was conducted to evaluate the potential of driving simulators in the study of future steer-by-wire systems. The results indicate that drivers on the simulator can control their vehicles in curves wit...

The principal objective of this research is to study the feasibility of a real-time, rule-based guidance system for an automobile on a limited-access highway. The inputs to the system are parameters describing the traffic situation, road geometry, vehicle state, and a driver selected goal. The output of the system consists of guidance parameters that command control logic governing the throttle...

A ball joint for an automobile steering system is a pivot component which is connected to knuckle and lower control arm. The manufacturing process for its caulking comprises spinning and deforming. In this study, the process was simulated by flexible multibody dynamics. The caulking was evaluated qualitatively through numerical analysis and inspecting a plastically deformed shape. The structura...

The aim of this study was to get insight into the development of tactile interface for automobile warning system. In other words, it was investigated whether the important driving information in the right and left peripheral visual fields can be recognized faster using tactile warning system as compared with auditory warning system. The participants were required to simultaneously carry out a t...

The focus of many European and American companies is currently on "modular" strategies in product design and production. A modular product has individual elements which are designed independently but function together as a seamless whole. In this article Mari Sako and Fiona Murray compare the experiences of the computer industry where modularity was consumer led with that of the automobile indu...