Driver Interface Lab – Paul Green

Location: G769 IOE
Faculty in charge: Paul A. Green, Ph.D.
Official Website

The Driving Simulator Laboratory is concerned with development methods to determine the workload of driving in various situations, the distraction of various in-vehicle devices and systems, and how drivers can be informed of potential crash situations. In addition, a growing interest is the allocation of driving activities between human drivers and automation. In contrast to many other laboratories studying driving, our emphasis is on predicting driving performance as well as developing methods and data that can be incorporated into Society of Automotive Engineers and International Standards Organization recommended practices and standards.

driving simulator laboratoryThe driving simulator laboratory is used to study how people drive. In particular, topics being explored include the measurement of driving workload, driver distraction, driver responses to warnings, and the development and evaluation of driver interfaces, both for manual and automated vehicles.  The goal is to make driving safer and the systems drivers use, easier to use.

The central element of the laboratory is a 3-screen NADS MiniSim into which has been integrated a GazePoint eye tracker to study where drivers look.  A major advantage of this simulator is that it is portable; use for studies at the UM Hospital is anticipated. Control of driving is via a Logitech G27, which has been modified to make driving more realistic. The simulator records or can compute information such as steering wheel angle, accelerator position, speed, lateral lane position, gap to other vehicles, time to collision, time to line crossing, traffic signal state, and a host of other measures as per SAE Recommended Practice J2944.

In addition, the laboratory also can assemble 3 reconfigurable OpenDS driving simulators with Logitech G27 controllers. These simulators are primarily used to support IOE 437 (Automotive Human Factors).

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