Longer-term effects of ADAS use on speed and headway control in drivers diagnosed with Parkinson's disease

Objective: An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) provided information about speed limits, speed, speeding, and following distance. Information was presented to the participants by means of a head-up display. Methods: Effects of the information on speed and headway control were studied in a longer-term driving simulator study including 12 repeated measures spread out over 4 weeks. Nine healthy older drivers between the ages of 65 and 82years and 9 drivers between the ages of 68 and 82years diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) participated in the study. Within the 4 weeks, groups completed 12 consecutive sessions (10 with ADAS and 2 without ADAS) in a driving simulator. Results: Results indicate an effect of ADAS use on performance. Removing ADAS after short-term exposure led to deterioration of performance in all speed measures in the group of drivers diagnosed with PD. Conclusions: These results suggest that provision of traffic information was utilized by drivers diagnosed with PD in order to control their speed

Intersection assistance:A safe solution for older drivers?

<p>Within the next few decades, the number of older drivers operating a vehicle will increase rapidly (Eurostat, 2011). As age increases so does physical vulnerability, age-related impairments, and the risk of being involved in a fatal crashes. Older drivers experience problems in driving situations that require divided attention and decision making under time pressure as reflected by their overrepresentation in at-fault crashes on intersections. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) especially designed to support older drivers crossing intersections might counteract these difficulties. In a longer-term driving simulator study, the effects of an intersection assistant on driving were evaluated. 18 older drivers (M = 71.44 years) returned repeatedly completing a ride either with or without a support system in a driving simulator. In order to test the intersection assistance, eight intersections were depicted for further analyses. Results show that ADAS affects driving. Equipped with ADAS, drivers allocated more attention to the road center rather than the left and right, crossed intersections in shorter time, engaged in higher speeds, and crossed more often with a critical time-to-collision (TFC) value. The implications of results are discussed in terms of behavioral adaptation and safety. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p>

Behavioral adaptation of young and older drivers to an intersection crossing advisory system

An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) provided information about the right of way regulation and safety to cross an upcoming intersection. Effects were studied in a longer-term study involving 18 healthy older drivers between the ages of 65 and 82 years and 18 healthy young drivers between the ages of 20 and 25 years. Participants repeatedly drove 25 km city routes in eight sessions on separate days over a period of two months in a driving simulator. In each age group, participants were randomly assigned to the control (no ADAS) and treatment (ADAS) group. The control group completed the whole experiment without the ADAS. The treatment group drove two sessions without (sessions 1 and 7) and six times with ADAS. Results indicate effects of ADAS on driving safety for young and older drivers, as intersection time and percentage of stops decreased, speed and critical intersection crossings increased, the number of crashes was lower for treatment groups than for control groups. The implications of results are discussed in terms of behavioral adaptation and safety. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Digital SiGe-chips for data transmission up to 85 Gbit/s

Design and performance of a 2:1 multiplexer and 1:2 demultiplexer IC up to 85.4 Gbit/s are presented. The chips are fabricated in an advanced SiGe technology with a cutoff frequency ft of 200 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency fmax of 275 GHz. With these two chips electrical data transmission at 80 and 85.4 Gbit/s could be achieved. In addition a pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS) generator IC is shown operating up to 80 Gbit/s and generating a 231-1 or a 27-1 pattern