The role of looming and attention capture in drivers' braking responses

This study assessed the ability of drivers to detect the deceleration of a preceding vehicle in a simulated vehicle-following task. The size of the preceding vehicles (car, van, or truck) and following speeds (50, 70, or 100 km/h) were systematically varied. Participants selected a preferred following distance by engaging their vehicle's cruise control and when the preceding vehicle began decelerating (no brake lights were illuminated), the participant's braking latency and distances to the lead vehicle were recorded. The experiment also employed a secondary task condition to examine how the attention-capturing properties of a looming vehicle were affected by driver distraction. The results indicated that a looming stimulus is capable of redirecting a driver's attention in a vehicle following task and, as with detection of brake lights, a driver's detection of a looming vehicle is compromised in the presence of a distracting task. Interestingly, increases in vehicle size had the effect of decreasing drivers' braking latencies and drivers engaged in the secondary task were significantly closer to the lead vehicle when they began braking, regardless of the size of the leading vehicle. Performance decrements resulting from the secondary task were reflected in a time-to-collision measure but not in optic expansion rate, lending support to earlier arguments that time-to-collision estimates require explicit cognitive judgements while perception of optic expansion may function in a more automatic fashion to redirect a driver's attention when cognitive resources are low or collision is imminent.     

How fleeting emotions affect hazard perception and steering while driving: The impact of image arousal and valence

Video-billboards and portable video-display devices are becoming increasingly common and the images they project can often be dramatic or provocative. This study investigated the lingering effects of emotion-evoking images on driving as measured in a driving simulator. Images were projected on an in-vehicle display while drivers followed a lead vehicle at a safe distance. To ensure attention to the images drivers were required to indicate whether each image was positive or negative by pressing a button. Occasional braking events (sudden decelerations in the lead vehicle that necessitated braking) occurred either 250 or 500 ms after the button press. In the 250 ms delay condition braking RT was faster after high arousal images (fastest for high arousal positive images); following a 500 ms delay braking RT was slower after high arousal images (slowest for high arousal negative images). Responding to all images reduced steering performance (in the period after the image but before the button press) but image valence had an effect on steering as well. Positive images were associated with better steering performance than negative images, especially when they were both low in arousal: a result that supports the broaden-and-build hypothesis of positive emotions and the theory that ambient (wide field/peripheral) vision controls steering performance. We discuss implications for both basic research on attention–emotion and applied research on driving.     

基于主客观紧急度判断的车辆行驶模糊控制

紧急情况下驾驶员能否做出准确、及时的判断和操作,对于防止交通事故具有重要的现实意义。为 保证车辆行驶安全,有必要对车辆行驶中紧急度做出判断,并给出相应的控制算法。首先提出基于相对距离、 车速和驾驶员基本特征的车辆行驶中紧急度,同时给出基于模糊推理的车辆行驶控制算法,并对其进行了仿真 运算。仿真结果表明：情况越紧急,驾驶员会越快地采用最大制动减速度;驾驶员基本特征对制动操作的影响 明显。总之,通过模糊推理控制后车的制动减速度,能实现后车的行车安全。     

Developing an inverse time-to-collision crash alert timing approach based on drivers' last-second braking and steering judgments

Drivers were asked to execute last-second braking and steering maneuvers while approaching a surrogate target lead vehicle. This surrogate target was designed to allow safely placing naive drivers in controlled, realistic rear-end crash scenarios under test track conditions. Maneuver intensity instructions were varied so that drivers' perceptions of normal and non-normal braking envelopes could be properly identified and modeled for forward collision warning timing purposes. The database modeled includes 3536 last-second braking judgment trials. A promising inverse time-to-collision model was developed, which assumes that the driver deceleration response in response to a crash alert is based on an inverse time-to-collision threshold that decreases linearly with driver speed.     

A rear-end collision risk assessment model based on drivers’ collision avoidance process under influences of cell phone use and gender—A driving simulator based study

Driver’s collision avoidance performance has a direct link to the collision risk and crash severity. Previous studies demonstrated that the distracted driving, such as using a cell phone while driving, disrupted the driver’s performance on road. This study aimed to investigate the manner and extent to which cell phone use and driver’s gender affected driving performance and collision risk in a rear-end collision avoidance process. Forty-two licensed drivers completed the driving simulation experiment in three phone use conditions: no phone use, hands-free, and hand-held, in which the drivers drove in a car-following situation with potential rear-end collision risks caused by the leading vehicle’s sudden deceleration. Based on the experiment data, a rear-end collision risk assessment model was developed to assess the influence of cell phone use and driver’s gender. The cell phone use and driver’s gender were found to be significant factors that affected the braking performances in the rear-end collision avoidance process, including the brake reaction time, the deceleration adjusting time and the maximum deceleration rate. The minimum headway distance between the leading vehicle and the simulator during the rear-end collision avoidance process was the final output variable, which could be used to measure the rear-end collision risk and judge whether a collision occurred. The results showed that although cell phone use drivers took some compensatory behaviors in the collision avoidance process to reduce the mental workload, the collision risk in cell phone use conditions was still higher than that without the phone use. More importantly, the results proved that the hands-free condition did not eliminate the safety problem associated with distracted driving because it impaired the driving performance in the same way as much as the use of hand-held phones. In addition, the gender effect indicated that although female drivers had longer reaction time than male drivers in critical situation, they were more quickly in braking with larger maximum deceleration rate, and they tended to keep a larger safety margin with the leading vehicle compared to male drivers. The findings shed some light on the further development of advanced collision avoidance technologies and the targeted intervention strategies about cell phone use while driving.     

Older driver distraction: A naturalistic study of behaviour at intersections

This study examined older driver engagement in distracting behaviours (secondary activities) at intersections using naturalistic driving data from a larger study based in Melbourne, Australia. Of interest was whether engagement in secondary activities at intersections was influenced by factors such as driver gender and situational variables, in particular, those relating to the complexity of the driving environment. Specifically we expected that when making left/right turns, older drivers would reduce the proportion of time engaged in secondary behaviours at intersections which required gap judgements (partly controlled or uncontrolled) compared with intersections that were fully controlled by traffic signals. Consideration was given to engagement in secondary activity with hands off the wheel and when the vehicle was moving versus stationary. Older drivers aged between 65 and 83 years drove an instrumented vehicle (IV) on their regular trips for approximately two weeks. The IV was equipped with a video camera system, enabling recording of the road environment and driver and a data acquisition unit, enabling recording of trip distance, vehicle speed, braking, accelerating, steering and indicator use. Driving experience and demographics were collected and functional abilities were assessed using the Useful Field of View (UFOV), Trail Making Test B, Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. The study yielded a total of 371 trips with 4493 km (99.8 h) of naturalistic driving data including 1396 left and right turns. Trips were randomly selected from the dataset and in-depth analysis was conducted on 200 intersection manoeuvres (approximately 50% left turns, 50% right turns). The most frequently observed secondary activities were scratching/grooming (42.5%), talking/singing (30.2%) and manipulating the vehicle control panel (12.2%). Glances “off road” 2 s or longer were associated with reading, reaching and manipulation of the vehicle control panel. Hands off the wheel was associated with reading. Key parameters associated with the percent of intersection time that drivers engaged in secondary activities were intersection complexity, vehicle status (moving vs. stationary) and traffic density. In conclusion, older drivers appeared to engage selectively in secondary activities according to roadway/driving situations, supporting the notion that drivers self-regulate by engaging in secondary tasks less frequently when the driving task is more challenging compared with less challenging manoeuvres.     

Thermomechanical Behavior of Brake Drums Under Extreme Braking Conditions

Braking efficiency is characterized by reduced braking time and distance, and therefore passenger safety depends on the design of the braking system. During the braking of a vehicle, the braking system must dissipate the kinetic energy by transforming it into heat energy. A too high temperature can lead to an almost total loss of braking efficiency. An excessive rise in brake temperature can also cause surface cracks extending to the outside edge of the drum friction surface. Heat transfer and temperature gradient, not to forget the vehicle's travel environment (high speed, heavy load, and steeply sloping road conditions), must thus be the essential criteria for any brake system design. The aim of the present investigation is to analyze the thermal behavior of different brake drum designs during the single emergency braking of a heavy-duty vehicle on a steeply sloping road. The calculation of the temperature field is performed in transient mode using a three-dimensional finite element model assuming a constant coefficient of friction. In this study, the influence of geometrical brake drum configurations on the thermal behavior of brake drums with two different materials in grey cast iron FG200 and aluminum alloy 356.0 reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) particles is analyzed under extreme vehicle braking conditions. The numerical simulation results obtained using FE software ANSYS are qualitatively compared with the results already published in the literature.     

稀疏立体视觉算法在自动包装机器人中的应用

目的为实现包装机器人自动测距的功能,提出将双目稀疏立体视觉算法应用到自动包装机器人视觉系统中。方法为验证算法的实用性,利用深圳市元创兴科技有限公司生产的配备双目视觉系统的REBot-V-6R六自由度机器人进行实验,计算实验台上包装件与摄像机的距离,通过计算值与测量值之间的误差评估算法的精确度。结果实验证明双目稀疏立体视觉算法在600~1000 mm范围内深度计算误差小于7%。结论该稀疏立体视觉算法可以应用于自动包装机器人测距。     

Influences of pre-crash braking induced dummy – Forward displacements on dummy behaviour during EuroNCAP frontal crashtest

Combination of active and passive safety systems is a future key to further improvement in vehicle safety. Autonomous braking systems are able to reduce collision speeds, and therefore severity levels significantly. Passengers change their position due to pre-impact vehicle motion, a fact, which has not yet been considered in common crash tests. For this paper, finite elements simulations of crash tests were performed to show that forward displacements due to pre-crash braking do not necessarily increase dummy load levels. So the influence of different pre-crash scenarios, all leading to equal closing speeds in the crash phase, are considered in terms of vehicle motion (pitching, deceleration) and restraint system configurations (belt load limiter, pretensioner). The influence is evaluated by dummy loads as well as contact risk between the dummy and the interior.     

Using neural networks for 3D measurement in stereo vision inspection systems

This paper presents a stereo vision inspection process which derives precise 3D measurements. Two artificial neural networks are used to facilitate the whole measurement process. At first, a simple camera calibration process is developed to derive the focal lengths and the relative information. A Hopfield neural network is used to solve the stereo matching problem, which has been constructed as an energy function. By means of a recursive process, the disparities of extracted feature points are obtained. In addition, a backpropagation neural network-based measurement error correction model for 3D measurement is proposed. It reduces the errors of 3D measurement associated with a part's orientation, position, magnitude and distance between the object and cameras. Four procedural processes are designed to implement this model. Our laboratory experiments demonstrate that the proposed measurement process has a satisfactory measurement result.     

Dense range map reconstruction from a versatile robotic sensor system with an active trinocular vision and a passive binocular vision.

One major research issue associated with 3D perception by robotic systems is the creation of efficient sensor systems that can generate dense range maps reliably. A visual sensor system for robotic applications is developed that is inherently equipped with two types of sensor, an active trinocular vision and a passive stereo vision. Unlike in conventional active vision systems that use a large number of images with variations of projected patterns for dense range map acquisition or from conventional passive vision systems that work well on specific environments with sufficient feature information, a cooperative bidirectional sensor fusion method for this visual sensor system enables us to acquire a reliable dense range map using active and passive information simultaneously. The fusion algorithms are composed of two parts, one in which the passive stereo vision helps active vision and the other in which the active trinocular vision helps the passive one. The first part matches the laser patterns in stereo laser images with the help of intensity images; the second part utilizes an information fusion technique using the dynamic programming method in which image regions between laser patterns are matched pixel-by-pixel with help of the fusion results obtained in the first part. To determine how the proposed sensor system and fusion algorithms can work in real applications, the sensor system is implemented on a robotic system, and the proposed algorithms are applied. A series of experimental tests is performed for a variety of configurations of robot and environments. The performance of the sensor system is discussed in detail.     

加速度测量法在制动性能检测上的应用

本文介绍加速度传感器在车辆制动性能测量上的应用。电路上实时采集加速度传感器信号变化,时间变化换算出实时加速度值。根据加速度与速度、距离之间的关系计算得出制动速度与制动距离。     

一种用于外科手术导航的双目视觉简化系统

针对外科手术导航光学定位仪参数标定过程繁琐和对应点匹配歧异性大的问题,进行了双目立体视觉简化系统的研究.运用坐标变换方法一次性标定系统24个参数;选用黑白棋盘格标记物和运用相似性度量原理,简化立体匹配过程、提高立体匹配准确度.利用标定后的系统对标记物之间的距离进行测量,在距双目视觉传感单元1.5 m范围内误差小于1 mm.交叉韧带重建手术导舷模拟实验表明:该系统具有稳定,可靠,标定方法简单,匹配准确,定位精度高的特点,能够满足外科手术导航的要求.     

自适应半主动悬架系统机械硬件在环试验研究

车辆处于加速、制动或转向工况时,运动惯性会导致车身发生俯仰、侧倾运动,如果幅值过大将使乘员产生紧张、眩晕等不舒适感。为解决此问题,提出一种基于车身姿态补偿控制与天棚加速度控制相结合的算法,建立自适应阻尼控制系统,不仅可使车辆垂向运动的振动效果得到改善,还能兼顾车身俯仰、侧倾控制,使其控制效果更加接近主动悬架。另外,搭建一种新型的减振器机械硬件在环试验台,可以对车辆垂向、俯仰及侧倾运动进行控制算法有效性验证,能克服四分之一减振器台架仅能验证车辆垂向运动的局限性。试验结果表明,与被动悬架相比,该算法在不同车速工况下B级路面和C级路面质心加速度幅值平均降幅达21.16%和13.21%,不同减速度和加速度工况下俯仰角波动峰峰值平均降幅达25.50%和28.82%,蛇形工况下不同车速的侧倾角幅值也均有降低。     

立体视觉曲面重建与系统误差分析

采用立体视觉空间曲面重建技术对三维曲面表面成像进行边缘提取、图像匹配、匹配点空间位置计算等步骤,得到三维曲面表面点的空间位置,利用空间点信息对三维曲面形状进行重建,恢复曲面三维形状;并讨论了立体视觉系统的摄像机分辨率、测量范围和摄像机间距等参数之间的关系.利用该方法对堆积物表面形状及体积进行测量实验结果表明,该方法能准确、快速、方便地给出三维曲面的形状.     

Fault-tolerant automobile steering based on diversity of steer-by-wire, braking and acceleration

Steer-by-wire (SBW) systems, which have no mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and front wheels, are expected to improve vehicle safety through better steering capability. SBW system failures, however, can cause hazardous driving situations. This paper introduces fault-tolerant architecture based on diversified steering mechanisms consisting of SBW backed up with steering by braking and acceleration during SBW failures. These backup steering functions are chosen according to driver's intention of deceleration and acceleration. A loss of SBW function during front-obstacle avoidance on a straight highway is investigated by driving simulator experiments. The results show that the driver can maneuver the vehicle by the steering wheel during the SBW failures. Both cost and volume increase by excessive redundancy within SBW is avoided by the diversified design, thus facilitating SBW application on new-generation vehicles.     

Electromagnetic braking of a metallic projectile in flight

A simple model for the electromagnetic deceleration of a moving metallic projectile is described. It incorporates the influence of magnetic field parameters, time-dependent field diffusion, and device geometry on braking action, albeit in an approximate fashion. The model predicts that a viable experimental braking device can be designed.     

Pedestrian injury mitigation by autonomous braking

The objective of this study was to calculate the potential effectiveness of a pedestrian injury mitigation system that autonomously brakes the car prior to impact. The effectiveness was measured by the reduction of fatally and severely injured pedestrians. The database from the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) was queried for pedestrians hit by the front of cars from 1999 to 2007. Case by case information on vehicle and pedestrian velocities and trajectories were analysed to estimate the field of view needed for a vehicle-based sensor to detect the pedestrians one second prior to the crash. The pre-impact braking system was assumed to activate the brakes one second prior to crash and to provide a braking deceleration up to the limit of the road surface conditions, but never to exceed 0.6 g. New impact speeds were then calculated for pedestrians that would have been detected by the sensor. These calculations assumed that all pedestrians who were within a given field of view but not obstructed by surrounding objects would be detected. The changes in fatality and severe injury risks were quantified using risk curves derived by logistic regression of the accident data. Summing the risks for all pedestrians, relationships between mitigation effectiveness, sensor field of view, braking initiation time, and deceleration were established. The study documents that the effectiveness at reducing fatally (severely) injured pedestrians in frontal collisions with cars reached 40% (27%) at a field of view of 40°. Increasing the field of view further led to only marginal improvements in effectiveness.     

Stereo vision calibration based on GMDH neural network

In order to improve the accuracy and stability of stereo vision calibration, a novel stereo vision calibration approach based on the group method of data handling (GMDH) neural network is presented. Three GMDH neural networks are utilized to build a spatial mapping relationship adaptively in individual dimension. In the process of modeling, the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm is introduced as an interior criterion to train each partial model, and the corrected Akaike's information criterion is introduced as an exterior criterion to evaluate these models. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach is stable and able to calibrate three-dimensional (3D) locations more accurately and learn the stereo mapping models adaptively. It is a convenient way to calibrate the stereo vision without specialized knowledge of stereo vision.     

Independence of older adults in performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and the relation of this performance to visual abilities

A questionnaire study was undertaken of more than 2800 elderly people aged 60 years and over and living at home, to investigate the relationship between their performance of some instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and their visual abilities. The IADL measured the ability of elderly participants to pick up coins, manage monthly financial matters, use the telephone and take medication as recommended. Visual abilities were assessed by means of each subject's answers to questions relating to resolution, focus, adaptation to bright or to dim lighting, dynamic acuity, distance perception and colour vision. The types of visual functions that, together with age and gender, contribute to determining the level of independence in the performance of IADL activities were identified using logistic regression analysis. The results indicated that elderly participants who had problems with either distance perception or yellowish vision also tended to have difficulties in picking up coins, using the telephone and taking medication as recommended. In addition, problems with adaptation and dynamic acuity were associated with difficulty in managing monthly financial matters. From an analysis of all subjects, distance perception was the significant factor that determined whether an elderly subject could pick up coins or use a telephone unaided. Yellowish vision was also significantly associated with a need for assistance or with an inability to manage monthly financial matters, use the telephone or take medication as recommended.