Development of universal driving simulator with interactive traffic environment

Abstract

In the sustainable ITS project at the Center for Collaborative Research, the University of Tokyo, an experiment platform is developed for drivers' characteristics analysis on the moving-based driving simulator. In the upper-level microscopic car traffic flow simulator, a prototype driver model and vehicle dynamics model are developed with flexibility in the upgrading process. For realistic human factor measurement experiments, our driving simulator is equipped with a frame-structured flexible cut-body cabin, 360 degrees-field-of-view omni directional projection type visual display system, a steering wheel with an AC servo motor, 6.1 ch surround audio system and 6 DOF motion system with turning table. Some measurement experiments are made on a highway with a real car, aimed at driving simulator validation. Understanding of individual driver's behavior on this platform will contribute to design of safe and comfortable driving environments.