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This paper reviews the field operational test (FOT) methodology adopted in recent years for the evaluation of driver-assistance systems. The Road Departure Crash Warning System program is used both for illustration and as a case study. This project involved an extensive field operational test of a driver-assistance system using volunteers from the general public who drove instrumented research vehicles in place of their normal cars. Objective and subjective data were collected in these trials, and comparisons were made between driving behavior under conditions where the systems were either enabled or disabled. This paper presents sample results from the analyses and draws conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the FOT method.

Recent research in the ASPECT (Automotive Seat and Package Evaluation and Comparison Tools) program has led to the development of a new method for automobile driver posture prediction, known as the Cascade Model. The Cascade Model uses a sequential series of regression functions and inverse kinematics to predict automobile occupant posture. This paper presents an alternative method for driver posture prediction using data-guided kinematic optimization. The within-subject conditional distributions of joint angles are used to infer the internal cost functions that guide tradeoffs between joints in adapting to different vehicle configurations. The predictions from the two models are compared to in-vehicle driving postures.

This paper describes control system and psychological concepts enabling the development of a simulation model suitable for use in emulating driver performance in situations involving the longitudinal control of the distance and headway-time to a preceding vehicle. The developed model has mathematical expressions and relationships pertaining to the driver's skill in operating the brake and accelerator (“inverse dynamics”) and the driver's perceptual and decision-making capabilities (“desired dynamics”). Simulation results for driving situations involving braking and accelerating are presented to aid in understanding the research work.

This paper describes an ongoing effort to develop computer-simulated instrumentation for the UMTRI Driver Interface Research Simulator. The speedometer, tachometer, engine and fuel gauges, along with warning lights are back projected onto a screen in front of the driver. The image is generated by a Macintosh running LabVIEW. Simulated instrumentation (instead of a production cluster) was provided so that new display designs can be rapidly generated and tested. This paper addresses the requirements for prototyping software, the advantages and disadvantages of the packages available, and the UMTRI implementation of the software, and its incorporation into the driving simulator.

This study examined perceptual adaptation to nonplanar (spherical convex and aspheric) rearview mirrors. Subjects made magnitude estimates of the distance to a car seen in a rearview mirror. Three different mirrors were used: plane, aspheric (with a large spherical section having a radius of 1400 mm), and simple convex (with a radius of 1000 mm). Previous research relevant to perceptual adaptation to nonplanar mirrors was reviewed. It was argued that, in spite of some cases of explicit interest in the process of learning to use nonplanar mirrors, previous research has not adequately addressed the possibility of perceptual adaptation. The present experiment involved three phases: (1) a pretest phase in which subjects made distance judgments but received no feedback, (2) a training phase in which they made judgments and did receive feedback, and (3) a posttest phase with the same procedure as the pretest phase.