Development of a Human Factors Research Laboratory for Off-Road Vehicle Operator Workstation Design

Abstract

A new human factors research laboratory has been developed to provide reliable humanperformance data for the design of improved off-road vehicle operator workstations. The principal research tool within this laboratory is a vehicle operations simulator. The simulator consists of a hydraulically driven platform upon which a vehicle operator's enclosure or workstation can be mounted. Under computer control, the simulator is capable of motion with six degrees-offreedom. With this capability, the simulator's motion can be programmed to reproduce operator workstation vibration experienced in operational field environments. Both field recorded data and mathematical simulations of existing and proposed vehicles can be used to command the simulator motion. In addition to simulating vehicle motion, the simulator is capable of producing realistic control and monitoring tasks for the operator, as well as operator enclosure environmental conditions. This paper describes the research objectives for which the simulator was built, the specifications used in the design of the vehicle motion simulator system, the hardware selected in implementing that design, and the computer control used to simulate both field and artificial "ride" histories.