ITERATE

IT for Error Remediation And Trapping Emergencies

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'In recent years, a variety of driver support and information management systems have been designed and implemented with the objective of improving safety as well as the performance of vehicles. While the crucial issues at a technical level have been mostly solved, their consequences on driver activity remains open and needs to be fully explained. Of particular importance are their effects on driver behaviour and strategies, and their impact on the operation and safety of the traffic system. The aim of the proposed project is to develop and validate a unified model of driver behaviour and driver interaction with innovative technologies in emergency situations. This model will be applicable to and validated for all the surface transport modes. Drivers’ age, gender, education and experience and culture are factors that will be considered together with influences from the environment and the vehicle. A unified model of driver behaviour will be of great use when designing innovative technologies since it will allow for assessment and tuning of the systems in a safe and controllable environment. At the concept stage, the model could guide designers in identifying potential problem areas whilst at the prototype stage, the model could inform on the scenarios to be used in system evaluation. In this way the systems will be better adapted to the drivers before being available on the market and will provide better support to the driver in emergency situations. Along the same lines, the model could be of use for authorities as a guide in assessing and approving innovative technologies without performing extensive simulator experiments or large scale field trials. As far as the proposes are aware, there has not to date been any research taking the bold step of attempting to create a unified model of driver behaviour applicable across the modes, still less a functioning piece of software to represent that model and the validation of that software.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A new driver behaviour model and simulation tool that can be used to test the latest developments in driver safety support will assist industry to develop new technology and enable authorities to evaluate it.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

High-tech advances that enhance the safety of vehicles are taking the transport industry by storm. Sophisticated sensors, technical improvements and more robust materials are all being developed and integrated into cars, trains and boats. However, the EU wants to ensure that all these advances are as effective and useful as their developers promise.

To address this concern, the EU-funded project 'IT for error remediation and trapping emergencies' (Iterate) developed a model of driver behaviour to develop, assess and validate innovative technologies. The model was designed to consider driver interaction with support systems and help in refining new technologies that support drivers in critical situations. It can also be used by authorities to approve new technologies without the need to conduct large-scale experiments and field trials.

The model is based on the principle that the underlying factors influencing human behaviour, like age, gender and culture, are constant between transport modes. This has enabled the project team to produce a unified model of driver behaviour. In addition, the team developed a resource from results of experiments it conducted during the project so that the research community can benefit from its use.

To achieve its aims, Iterate built two portable simulators with LCD screens that were used in experiments aimed to test the model with 183 car drivers and 110 train drivers in 5 countries. It found that the newly developed small-scale portable simulators were as effective as their large-scale counterparts in studying driver behaviour. The project then fine-tuned the simulators even further and carried out experiments aboard sea-faring vessels as well. Although the technology did prove useful aboard ships as well, the team concluded that it was more effective in road transport vehicles.

Overall, the Iterate team produced a solid theoretical model of driver behaviour that applies to different transportation modes. It completed the database of simulator experiments and developed a viable simulation tool for driver behaviour. Other project deliverables include a new book on 'Human modelling of assisted transportation', and more than 20 publications based on the project's work.

Team experts strongly believe that the simulation tool can help develop better advanced driver support systems and contribute to both safety and mobility aspects of driving behaviour. The project's results are slated to impact traffic safety positively and lower road fatalities by supporting the development of more viable and cost-effective systems that improve safety. Testing of new safety systems will reach a new level and the benefits will filter down to drivers on the roads, contributing to the EU's road safety targets for 2020 and beyond.