People
Ing. Tereza Kunclová, MSc.

2024, ISBN 978-80-01-07387-2, ISSN 2336-5382

2024, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 28, p. 1-8), ISSN 2590-1982

The interaction between emergency vehicle drivers and surrounding road users is associated with risks. This study explored the application of geofencing to improve interactions between drivers and emergency vehicles to reduce the risk of collisions in high-risk scenarios. Two high-risk scenarios, an off-ramp collision, and an intersection scenario, were used in two driving simulator experiments with 64 participants in total. Half of the drivers received a geofence-based warning about the upcoming traffic situation. The results indicate that geofencing, when applied to provide warnings in specific locations, improves driver behavior. In the off-ramp experiment, all drivers who received a warning avoided the off-ramp and thereby avoided the collision site, whereas all other drivers took the off-ramp. In the intersection experiment, the warning led to earlier deceleration, allowing the emergency vehicle to pass safely and with minimal delay; whereas nearly half of those who did not get a warning failed to yield to the emergency vehicle. The drivers acted based on the warning they received, even when they had not yet seen the emergency vehicle. The findings suggest that geofencing can improve driver behavior by detecting emergency vehicles early and reliably, thereby improving traffic safety and minimizing delay for emergency vehicles on call.

2024

Pilotní úsek pro testování autonomní mobility představuje specifickou část dopravní infrastruktury, která je uzpůsobena k testování systémů autonomních vozidel (i dílčích) v reálném nebo simulovaném provozu. Tento úsek má zajistit bezpečné, technologicky vyspělé a kontrolované prostředí pro ověření funkčnosti a spolehlivosti testovaných systémů. Pilotní úseku je tvořen komunikacemi od křižovatky Kaplířova x Klatovská ke konečné TRAM Univerzita v Plzni a její okolí – pozemní komunikace, technologické vybavení atd. Úsek je cca 1,7 km dlouhý s různým prostředím okolo TRAM – 4 pruhová směrově dělená komunikace, samostatný TRAM pás, křížení TRAM x silniční komunikace, OK, SSZ, výhybky, zastávky MHD/VHD, infrastruktura pro pěší.

2024

V rámci projektu DiDYMOS byly před implementací do pilotní lokality pilotně laboratorně testovány navržené systémy. Jedním z klíčových aspektů laboratorního testování bylo důkladné ověření všech funkcí, jejich spolehlivosti a získávání potřebných dat. Testovány byly části systémů, vyvinuté softwary, konektory, API, které slouží k řízení a vyhodnocování dat z detektorů/vozidel. Testování probíhalo v simulovaných provozních podmínkách se zapojením částí jednotlivých řešitelů.

2023, Sensors, 23 (12), p. 1-16), ISSN 1424-8220

The present paper focuses on vehicle simulator fidelity, particularly the effect of motion cues intensity on driver performance. The 6-DOF motion platform was used in the experiment; however, we mainly focused on one characteristic of driving behavior. The braking performance of 24 participants in a car simulator was recorded and analyzed. The experiment scenario was composed of acceleration to 120 km/h followed by smooth deceleration to a stop line with prior warning signs at distances of 240, 160, and 80 m to the finish line. To assess the effect of the motion cues, each driver performed the run three times with different motion platform settings-no motion, moderate motion, and maximal possible response and range. The results from the driving simulator were compared with data acquired in an equivalent driving scenario performed in real conditions on a polygon track and taken as reference data. The driving simulator and real car accelerations were recorded using the Xsens MTi-G sensor. The outcomes confirmed the hypothesis that driving with a higher level of motion cues in the driving simulator brought more natural braking behavior of the experimental drivers, better correlated with the real car driving test data, although exceptions were found.

2023, SENSORS, 23 (1), ISSN 1424-8220

Driving simulators are increasingly being incorporated by driving schools into a training process for a variety of vehicles. The motion platform is a major component integrated into simulators to enhance the sense of presence and fidelity of the driving simulator. However, less effort has been devoted to assessing the motion cues feedback on trainee performance in simulators. To address this gap, we thoroughly study the impact of motion cues on braking at a target point as an elementary behavior that reflects the overall driver's performance. In this paper, we use an eye-tracking device to evaluate driver behavior in addition to evaluating data from a driving simulator and considering participants' feedback. Furthermore, we compare the effect of different motion levels ("No motion", "Mild motion", and "Full motion") in two road scenarios: with and without the pre-braking warning signs with the speed feedback given by the speedometer. The results showed that a full level of motion cues had a positive effect on braking smoothness and gaze fixation on the track. In particular, the presence of full motion cues helped the participants to gradually decelerate from 5 to 0 ms(-1) in the last 240 m before the stop line in both scenarios, without and with warning signs, compared to the hardest braking from 25 to 0 ms(-1) produced under the no motion cues conditions. Moreover, the results showed that a combination of the mild motion conditions and warning signs led to an underestimation of the actual speed and a greater fixation of the gaze on the speedometer. Questionnaire data revealed that 95% of the participants did not suffer from motion sickness symptoms, yet participants' preferences did not indicate that they were aware of the impact of simulator conditions on their driving behavior.