Evaluation of a sudden brake warning system: Effect on the response time of the following driver

This study used a video-based braking simulation dual task to carry out a preliminary evaluation of the effect of a sudden brake warning system (SBWS) in a leading passenger vehicle on the response time of the following driver. The primary task required the participants (N = 25, 16 females, full NZ license holders) to respond to sudden braking manoeuvres of a lead vehicle during day and night driving, wet and dry conditions and in rural and urban traffic, while concurrently performing a secondary tracking task using a computer mouse. The SBWS in the lead vehicle consisted of g-force controlled activation of the rear hazard lights (the rear indicators flashed), in addition to the standard brake lights. Overall, the results revealed that responses to the braking manoeuvres of the leading vehicles when the hazard lights were activated by the warning system were 0.34 s (19%) faster compared to the standard brake lights. The SBWS was particularly effective when the simulated braking scenario of the leading vehicle did not require an immediate and abrupt braking response. Given this, the SBWS may also be beneficial for allowing smoother deceleration, thus reducing fuel consumption. These preliminary findings justify a larger, more ecologically valid laboratory evaluation which may lead to a naturalistic study in order to test this new technology in ‘real world’ braking situations

Automotive Collision Warning System Retrofit

In the early 2000s, few automakers began implementing forward collision warning systems in their cars. As technology advanced this system became available on more and more luxury cars. In recent years, this technology has spread to more affordable vehicles driven every day. However, as this technology has only recently advanced to less expensive, more economical cars, older vehicles of the same model may not have this advanced and important safety feature. This project investigates and creates a preliminary design for an affordable, easy-to-install, forward collision warning system that can be retrofitted to vehicles without the system currently installed. Using a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) clustering algorithm, an extended Kalman filter, and a time-to-collision algorithm, a forward collision warning system was developed and simulated using the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) test scenarios. Software testing and implementation was done in MATLAB and has provided a foundation for future hardware implementation using Texas Instruments mmWave automotive radar (AWR1843BOOST)

Potential benefits of an adaptive forward collision warning system

Forward collision warning (FCW) systems can reduce rear-end vehicle collisions. However, if the presentation of warnings is perceived as mistimed, trust in the system is diminished and drivers become less likely to respond appropriately. In this driving simulator investigation, 45 drivers experienced two FCW systems: a non-adaptive and an adaptive FCW that adjusted the timing of its alarms according to each individual driver’s reaction time. Whilst all drivers benefited in terms of improved safety from both FCW systems, non-aggressive drivers (low sensation seeking, long followers) did not display a preference to the adaptive FCW over its non-adaptive equivalent. Furthermore, there was little evidence to suggest that the non-aggressive drivers’ performance differed with either system. Benefits of the adaptive system were demonstrated for aggressive drivers (high sensation seeking, short followers). Even though both systems reduced their likelihood of a crash to a similar extent, the aggressive drivers rated each FCW more poorly than their non-aggressive contemporaries. However, this group, with their greater risk of involvement in rear-end collisions, reported a preference for the adaptive system as they found it less irritating and stress-inducing. Achieving greater acceptance and hence likely use of a real system is fundamental to good quality FCW design

Comparison of Driver Brake Reaction Times to Multimodal Rear-end Collision Warnings

This study examined the effectiveness of rear-end collision warnings presented in different sensory modalities as a function of warning timing in a driving simulator. Drivers experienced four warning conditions: no warning, visual, auditory, and tactile. The warnings activated when the time-to-collision (TTC) reached a critical value of 3.0 or 5.0 s TTC. Driver reaction time (RT) was captured from the time the driver crossed the warning activation threshold to brake initiation. Mean driver RT data showed that the tactile warning significantly outperformed the visual warning, providing support for tactile displays as effective rear-end collision warnings

Development of rear-end collision avoidance in automobiles

The goal of this work is to develop a Rear-End Collision Avoidance System for automobiles. In order to develop the Rear-end Collision Avoidance System, it is stated that the most important difference from the old practice is the fact that new design approach attempts to completely avoid collision instead of minimizing the damage by over-designing cars. Rear-end collisions are the third highest cause of multiple vehicle fatalities in the U.S. Their cause seems to be a result of poor driver awareness and communication. For example, car brake lights illuminate exactly the same whether the car is slowing, stopping or the driver is simply resting his foot on the pedal. In the development of Rear-End Collision Avoidance System (RECAS), a thorough review of hardware, software, driver/human factors, and current rear-end collision avoidance systems are included. Key sensor technologies are identified and reviewed in an attempt to ease the design effort. The characteristics and capabilities of alternative and emerging sensor technologies are also described and their performance compared. In designing a RECAS the first component is to monitor the distance and speed of the car ahead. If an unsafe condition is detected a warning is issued and the vehicle is decelerated (if necessary). The second component in the design effort utilizes the illumination of independent segments of brake lights corresponding to the stopping condition of the car. This communicates the stopping intensity to the following driver. The RECAS is designed the using the LabVIEW software. The simulation is designed to meet several criteria: System warnings should result in a minimum load on driver attention, and the system should also perform well in a variety of driving conditions. In order to illustrate and test the proposed RECAS methods, a Java program has been developed. This simulation animates a multi-car, multi-lane highway environment where car speeds are assigned randomly, and the proposed RECAS approaches demonstrate rear-end collision avoidance successfully. The Java simulation is an applet, which is easily accessible through the World Wide Web and also can be tested for different angles of the sensor

Vibrotactile pedals : provision of haptic feedback to support economical driving

The use of haptic feedback is currently an underused modality in the driving environment, especially with respect to vehicle manufacturers. This exploratory study evaluates the effects of a vibrotactile (or haptic) accelerator pedal on car driving performance and perceived workload using a driving simulator. A stimulus was triggered when the driver exceeded a 50% throttle threshold, past which is deemed excessive for economical driving. Results showed significant decreases in mean acceleration values, and maximum and excess throttle use when the haptic pedal was active as compared to a baseline condition. As well as the positive changes to driver behaviour, subjective workload decreased when driving with the haptic pedal as compared to when drivers were simply asked to drive economically. The literature suggests that the haptic processing channel offers a largely untapped resource in the driving environment, and could provide information without overloading the other attentional resource pools used in driving

EYES : a novel overtaking assistance system for vehicular networks

Developments in the ITS area are received with great expectation by both consumers and industry. Despite their huge potential benefits, ITS solutions suffer from the slow pace of adoption by manufacturers. In this paper we propose EYES, an ITS system that aims at helping drivers in overtaking. The system autonomously creates a network of the devices running EYES, and provides drivers with a video feed from the vehicle located just ahead, thus presenting a better view of any vehicles coming from the opposite direction and the road ahead. This is specially useful when the front view of the driver is blocked by large vehicles, and thus the decision whether to overtake can be taken based on the visuals provided by the application. We have validated EYES, the proposed overtaking assistance system, in both indoor and realistic scenarios involving vehicular network, and preliminary results allow being optimistic about its effectiveness and applicability