DigiCar: TRL's Car Driving Simulator
DigiCar uses a real car surrounded by display screens and advanced sound, dynamics and motion cues to ensure that driving the simulator is a faithful representation of real driving. The simulator is used for a variety of research projects including new road layouts, new vehicle technologies and driver impairments. |
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Both internal and external information are accurately reproduced, ensuring drivers feel as if they're sitting in a real vehicle. Quality audio and visual systems contribute to making the experience as real as possible. The simulator is programmed to move to replicate the impact of acceleration, braking and gradients.
For some studies, in-vehicle cameras are used to video-record images of drivers' faces for analysis of visual behaviours, or may be used for analysis of control movements of hand controls or foot pedals. Sound recordings can also be made of the participant's comments during a trial.
Critical events can be simulated and reaction time between onset of the event and the response of the driver can be measured.
A broad range of research has been conducted in the car driving simulator: this includes looking at the use of motorway hard shoulder running, driving in the dark with actively illuminated road studs, new vehicle technologies such as adaptive cruise control, brake assist systems, and adaptive headlights, and driver impairments such as fatigue, alcohol, mobile phone use and drugs.
This influential research using the car driving simulator has been showcased on the news channels of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Five and CNN.
To find out more about driving simulation, please check our FAQs or contact Andi Flint, Head of Human Factors and Simulation, on +44 (0)1344 770871/ aflint@trl.co.uk. or click here to download the DigiCar brochure.
