This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The objective of this Major Research Instrumentation (MRI-R2) award is to acquire a driving simulator for collaborative research focusing on the relationship between the automobile driver and the road environment. As field data collection related to driver performance has become increasingly difficult due to safety issues as, a driving simulator is an alternative research approach which allows for experimental control and data collection efficiency. The driver and road environment relationships that will be investigated include roadway design, traffic operations, driver skill development, and driver distraction; all of which incorporate driver safety. The driving simulator can rapidly demonstrate road geometry or flow modifications, correlate cognitive skills with driver performance particularly involving fatigue or distraction, identify physical capabilities which limit or do not impact driver performance, and the impact of driver training. Due to the crash risk associated with older, adolescent and disabled (emotionally or physically) drivers, simulator research studies allow for the expansion of research with these populations into a critically important domain.
If successful, the driving simulator will be incorporated into courses to enhance curricula, student research, and outreach activities to engage a broad spectrum of individuals, professionals and researchers. The driving simulator provides a tool to integrate traditional classroom topics into an interactive learning experience. Outreach and public education activities previously established at Ohio University will immediately be enhanced with the addition of a driving simulator interactive module. Researchers and students will also utilize the driving simulator to assist disabled individuals with sensory, such as hearing or vision, physical and mobility limitations to improve their quality of life. Research and educational efforts undertaken with the use of the driving simulator will reduce traffic fatalities and crashes thereby reducing the economic burden on society resulting from the loss of life.
The NSF MRI-R2 project awarded to Ohio University funded the acquisition of a DriveSafety DS-600c high fidelity research simulator that is fully integrated with a full-width Ford Focus automobile driver and passenger compartment. The DS-600c included a Q-Motion platform that provides inertial cues representing acceleration and deceleration with longitudinal travel. The research simulator was installed in July of 2010 and fully operational by September of 2010. The acquisition of the driving simulator has allowed for research expansion into critically important domains in human factors. Two previously funded projects have thus far utilized the simulator, three projects have been awarded due to the acquisition of the simulator and multiple collaborative research proposals are currently under review by state and national organizations. The funded research projects involved examination of traffic control device selection for work zones and the determination of precipitating factors for work zone crashes. The awarded projects are related to first responder vehicle visibility, work zone speed reduction countermeasures and dynamic speed signs along freeways. The submitted proposals involve elderly mobility, novice driver assessment and training, scanning behaviors of drivers with learning difficulties, and driver behavioral studies. The driving simulator provides the tool to integrate traditional classroom topics as an interactive learning experience for students thereby enhancing the educational curriculum. Curriculum enhancements, both at the graduate and undergraduate level, are currently being developed and will be implemented in the 2011-2012 academic year. Quarter-long design projects for junior, senior and graduate transportation students are being modified to incorporate the use of the driving simulator to assist in roadway design, traffic control device selection and signal design. Outreach activities, through the introduction to the simulator and its research capabilities, in order to broaden science and engineering participation to women and minorities have occurred during the 2010-2011 academic year and will continue to in future years. During the Women in Science and Engineering program, approximately 50 middle and high school students were given a presentation regarding Transportation Engineering and future research needs. The Pre-Engineering Program for multicultural high school students and the Engineering Exploration program involving women and minority women provided a hands-on opportunity for over 100 individuals to discover how roadways are designed utilizing the simulator and its design software. Tours have also been provided to the American Society of Civil Engineers Student Group and the Civil Engineering Learning Community for freshman. As a result of the acquisition of the driving simulator, a final project has been issued to the Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Transportation Consortium regarding the determination of traffic control device selection for nighttime maintenance of traffic. In addition, a paper entitled "A Simulator Study of Precipitating Factors for Work Zone Crashes" was presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board and has been accepted for publication in the Transportation Research Record, the Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
