Citation

de Frutos SH, Torner MS, Castro M. Transp. Res. Proc. 2023; 71: 156-163.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publications)

DOI

10.1016/j.trpro.2023.11.070

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The number of driver behaviour studies based on driving simulators has grown in recent years. However, driving simulators must be validated to ensure that they are helpful for experiments and that collected data help understand driver behaviour in actual conditions. This research study aims to validate the driving simulator of the Road Laboratory of the ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). The study used a two-lane rural road with a length of 13 km. Speeds were measured on the road, and its 3D model was made and adapted to the driving simulator. Thirty-four volunteers drove on the simulator. A statistical study was made between the speeds in the field and the simulator at six curves with different radii. Another statistical study was done with the calculated 15th, 50th and 85th percentiles of speed data measured. The 85th percentiles of simulator speeds were slightly higher than actual driving ones. The 50th percentiles were very close. The 15th percentiles of simulator speeds were slightly lower than actual driving ones. In addition, simulator drivers accomplished a questionnaire after driving. Most of them assessed the quality and similarity of the virtual environment compared with the actual world as medium or high. They also assessed the similarity between the simulator's driving task and the actual road as medium or high. The results of these comparative speed studies and driver surveys support the relative validation of this simulator.

Language: en

Keywords

Driving simulator; Highway; Rural Road; Validation