Data Acquisition System for the Characterization of Biomechanical and Ergonomic Thresholds in Driving Vehicles

Abstract

Directive (EU) 2015/653 on driving licenses has involved the modification of different codes that must appear on driver’s licenses. The definition of specific codes (20.07 and 40.01) compels measurement of the braking and steering forces. Performing practical tests to assess the driving fitness of special drivers will help to determine the maximum force that a driver can apply on primary controls when driving. From that point, definition of car control adaptations required to supply their functional deficiencies can be stated. This article describes a data acquisition system designed and developed for obtaining data from experimental tests based on the execution of habitual driving manoeuvres (braking, lane change and roundabouts). The data gathered will allow for definition of the thresholds of biomechanical values (forces on the steering wheel and brake pedal) and ergonomic values (driver’s upper extremity mobility ranges) necessary for driving motor vehicles. The results have shown that application in real driving tests of the data acquisition system designed provides valid and suitable results for the case studied. Therefore, it will contribute to substantially improving the assessment procedure for drivers in general and for disabled people in particular when obtaining or renewing their driving licenses.

Intelligibility of Haptic Signals in Vehicle Information Systems

“…In addition, to be applied to autonomous driving technology, it is necessary to consider driving environment scenarios (curves, obstacle avoidance, lane changes, etc.) in human-out-of-the-loop situations [ 26 , 27 ]. Therefore, IVIS research using haptic signals should be conducted as a guideline or standard stage rather than a basic stage, and this research can be supported.…”

On the Assessment of Fitness to Drive: Steering and Brake Operative Forces

“…Figure 2 shows the data acquisition system (DAQ) used to measure the operative forces applied during test trials, as well as the vehicles' dynamics. The DAQ was designed and validated in [44], [45], and it is composed by the following sensors:…”

Fidelity Assessment of Motion Platform Cueing: Comparison of Driving Behavior under Various Motion Levels

“…A recent paper by Loreto et al [ 25 ] aimed to tackle the whiplash problem by recording and comparing dynamic ranges of motion of the passengers’ heads made in a simulator versus a real car, although the real car part was left as a perspective. Xsens MTi-G sensor [ 26 ] is a sensor that has been extensively used in recent state-of-the-art experiments for various measurements of, e.g., vehicle acceleration and motion [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], simulators with motion platforms [ 30 ], mobile robots [ 31 , 32 , 33 ], pedestrians [ 34 , 35 ], and autonomous vehicles [ 36 ], and has proven to be useful and reliable in different use cases.…”