Steering Control Characteristics of Human Driver Coupled with an Articulated Commercial Vehicle

267 Pages·2014·6.34 MB·English

Steering Control Characteristics of Human Driver Coupled
with an Articulated Commercial Vehicle

Siavash Taheri

A Thesis
In the Department
of
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (Mechanical Engineering) at
Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

January 2014
© Siavash Taheri, 2014
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CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
School of Graduate Studies
This is to certify that the thesis prepared
By : Siavash Taheri
Entitled: Steering Control Characteristics of Human Driver Coupled With
an Articulated Commercial Vehicle
and submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Mechanical Engineering)
complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with
respect to originality and quality.
Signed by the final examining committee:
Chair
Dr. H. Akbari
External Examiner
Dr. Y. He
External to program
Dr. V. Ramachandran
Examiner
Dr. Y. Zhang
Examiner
Dr. R. Sedaghati
Co-supervisor
Dr. S. Rakheja
Co-supervisor
Dr. H. Hong

Approved by
Dr. A. Dolatabadi, Graduate Program Director

Januavry 17, 2014 Dr. C. Trueman, Interim Dean
Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science
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ABSTRACT
Steering Control Characteristics of Human Driver Coupled With an Articulated
Commercial Vehicle
Siavash Taheri,
Concordia University, 2013
Road safety associated with vehicle operation is a complex function of dynamic
interactions between the driver, vehicle, road and the environment. Using different
motion perceptions, the driver performs as a controller to satisfy key guidance and
control requirements of the vehicle system. Considerable efforts have been made to
characterize cognitive behavior of the human drivers in the context of vehicle control.
The vast majority of the reported studies on driver-vehicle interactions focus on
automobile drivers with little or no considerations of the control limits of the human
driver. The human driver's control performance is perhaps of greater concern for
articulated vehicle combinations, which exhibit significantly lower stability limits. The
directional dynamic analyses of such vehicles, however, have been limited either to open-
loop steering and braking inputs or simplified path-following driver models. The primary
motivations for this dissertation thus arise from the need to characterize human driving
behavior coupled with articulated vehicles, and to identify essential human perceptions
for developments in effective driver-assist systems and driver-adaptive designs.
In this dissertation research, a number of reported driver models employing widely
different control strategies are reviewed and evaluated to identify the contributions of
different control strategies as well as the most effective error prediction and
compensation strategies for applications to heavy vehicles. A series of experiments was
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performed on a driving simulator to measure the steering and braking reaction times, and
steering and control actions of the drivers with varying driving experience at different
forward speeds. The measured data were analyzed and different regression models are
proposed to describe driver’s steering response time, peak steer angle and peak steer rate
as functions of driving experience and forward speed.
A two-stage preview driver model incorporating curved path geometry in addition to
essential human driver cognitive elements such as path preview/prediction, error
estimation, decision making and hand-arm dynamics, is proposed. The path preview of
the model is realized using near and far preview points on the roadway to simultaneously
maintain central lane position and vehicle orientation. The driver model is integrated to
yaw-plane models of a single-unit vehicle and an articulated vehicle. The coupled driver-
articulated vehicle model is studied to investigate the influences of variations in selected
vehicle design parameters and driving speed on the path tracking performance and
control characteristics of the human driver. The driver model parameters are subsequently
identified through minimization of a composite cost function of path and orientation
errors and target directional dynamic responses subject to limit constraints on the driver
control characteristics. The significance of enhancing driver's perception of vehicle
motion states on path tracking and control demands of the driver are then examined by
involving different motion cues for the driver. The results suggest that the proposed
model structure could serve as an effective tool to identify human control limits and to
determine the most effective motion feedback cues that could yield improved directional
dynamic performance and the control demands. The results are discussed so as to serve as
guidance towards developments in DAS technologies for future commercial vehicles.
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Acknowledgments

My greatest appreciations to my parents and sisters for their constant support and love in
my endeavors throughout my lifetime.
I am sincerely grateful to my supervisors, Dr. Subhash Rakheja and Dr. Henry Hong for
initiating this research study as well as for their continued technical guidance and great
financial support during the completion of this thesis work.
I would also wish to acknowledge Dr. Pierro Hirsch, Mr. Stéphane Desrosiers and all my
friends who have volunteered their help and their great corporation during the
experimental stages of this work.
Last but not the least, I greatly thank all colleagues, faculty and staff at the department of
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and my dear friends, specially, Alireza Pazooki,
Roham Mactabi and Sining Liu, whose pure friendship has motivated my social and
academic life in Canada.

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LIST OF CONTENTS

List of Figures ........................................................................................................... xi
List of Tables ............................................................................................................ xviii
Nomenclature ............................................................................................................ xxiv
Abbreviations …………………………..………………………………………….. xxxi
CHAPTER 1
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SCOPE OF THE DISSERTATION
1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Review of Relevant Literature ......................................................................... 3
1.2.1 Perception and Prediction Process ............................................................ 5
1.2.2 Path Preview Process ................................................................................ 10
1.2.3 Decision Making Process .......................................................................... 15
1.2.4 Response/Reaction Time ........................................................................... 24
1.2.5 Limb Motion and Steering Dynamic ......................................................... 27
1.2.6 Performance Index and Identification of the Driver’s Control Parameters 30
1.3 Scope and Objective of the Dissertation ......................................................... 32
1.3.1 Objectives of the Dissertation Research .................................................... 34
1.3.2 Organization of the Dissertation ................................................................ 34
CHAPTER 2
RELATIVE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DRIVER MODELS
2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 37
2.2 Yaw-Plane Vehicle Model ................................................................................ 38
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2.3 Mathematical Formulations of the Selected Driver Control Strategies ...... 43
2.3.1 Compensatory Driver Model ..................................................................... 44
2.3.2 Preview Compensatory Driver Model ....................................................... 47
2.3.3 Anticipatory/Compensatory Driver Model ................................................ 50
2.4 Identification of Driver Models Control Parameters .................................... 52
2.5 Sensitivity Analysis ........................................................................................... 54
2.6 Results and Discussions .................................................................................... 56
2.6.1 Influences of Variations in Vehicle Speed ................................................ 56
2.6.2 Influence of Variations in Vehicle Mass ................................................... 66
2.6.3 Influence of Understeer Coefficient of the Vehicle ................................... 72
2.7 Summary ........................................................................................................... 78
2.8 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 79
CHAPTER 3
EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF DRIVER CONTROL
PROPERTIES
3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 81
3.2 Driving Simulator ............................................................................................. 82
3.2.1 Experiment Procedures ............................................................................. 83
3.2.2 Identification of Outliers ............................................................................ 85
3.3 Skill Classification ............................................................................................ 86
3.3.1 Maneuver Accomplishment ....................................................................... 87
3.3.2 Peak Steer Angle and Steer Rate ............................................................... 89
3.3.3 Steer Angle and Steer Rate Crest Factors ................................................. 93
3.3.4 Steering Profile Area ................................................................................. 96
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3.3.5 Mean and Peak Speed Deviations from the Target Speed ......................... 98
3.3.6 Summary of the Skill Classification .......................................................... 99
3.4 Measurement of the Braking and Steering Response Times ........................ 100
3.4.1 Abrupt Braking Maneuver ......................................................................... 101
3.4.2 Obstacle Avoidance Maneuver .................................................................. 102
3.5 Results and Discussions .................................................................................... 103
3.5.1 Braking Response Time ............................................................................. 103
3.5.2 Steering Response Time ............................................................................ 106
3.6 Characterization of Drivers’ Control Properties ........................................... 108
3.6.1 Peak Steer angle ........................................................................................ 109
3.6.2 Peak Steer Rate .......................................................................................... 111
3.6.3 Coupled Driver-Vehicle responses - Clear Visual Situation ..................... 113
3.6.4 Coupled Driver-Vehicle responses - Restricted Visual Situation .............. 115
3.7 Summary ........................................................................................................... 116
CHAPTER 4
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUPLED DRIVER-VEHICLE MODEL
4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 118
4.2 Yaw-Plane Vehicle Models ............................................................................... 119
4.3.1 Yaw-Plane Model of the Articulated Vehicle ........................................... 120
4.3 Formulation of the Two-Stage Preview Driver Model .................................. 123
4.3.1 Driver’s Perception and Prediction …….................................................... 123
4.3.2 Two-stage Preview and Parameters Estimations ....................................... 125
4.3.3 Decision Making Process .......................................................................... 130
4.4 Coupled Driver-Single-Unit Vehicle Model ................................................... 132
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4.4.1 The Generalized Performance Index ........................................................ 133
4.4.2 Validation of the Coupled Driver-Vehicle Model - Clear Visual Field ... 135
4.4.3 Validation of the Coupled Driver-Vehicle Model - Limited Visual Field 138
4.5 Coupled Driver-Articulated Vehicle Model ................................................... 142
4.6 Summary ........................................................................................................... 147
CHAPTER 5
IDENTIFICATION OF DRIVER’S CONTROL LIMITS
5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 148
5.2 Identification of the Driver’s Control Parameters ........................................ 149
5.3 Sensitivity Analysis - Driver Model Parameters ............................................ 152
5.4 Sensitivity Analysis - Variations in Speed and Vehicle Design Parameters 155
5.5 Identification of Control Limits of the Driver ............................................... 159
5.5.1 Variations of the Forward Speed ............................................................... 160
5.5.2 Variations in Tractor Design Parameters ………....................................... 165
5.5.3 Variations in Semi-Trailer Design Parameters ……………...................... 173
5.6 Summary ........................................................................................................... 181
CHAPTER 6
IDENTIFICATION OF EFFECTIVE MOTION CUES PERCEPTION
6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 183
6.2 Perception of Different Vehicle States by the Human Driver ...................... 184
6.3 Identification of Effective Motion Cues Perception ……………………….. 186
6.3.1 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - High Speed Driving …............. 187
6.3.2 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - Heavier Tractor Unit ………… 193
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6.3.3 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - Longer Tractor Unit …………. 196
6.3.4 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - Higher Tractor Tandem Spread 198
6.3.5 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - Heavier Trailer Unit ………… 200
6.3.6 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - Longer Trailer Unit ………….. 203
6.3.7 Influence of Additional Feedback Cues - Higher Trailer Tandem Spread 205
6.4 Summary ........................................................................................................... 207
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Highlights and Major Contributions of the Dissertation Research ............. 209
7.2 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 211
7.3 Recommendations for Future Studies ............................................................ 213

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………............... 216
APENDIX A
A.1 Yaw-Plane Model of the Single-Track Articulated Vehicle ….………............. 229
A.2 Yaw-Plane Articulated Vehicle Model …………………………………...…... 211
A.3 Simulation Results of Tire Cornering and Aligning Properties ………...…….. 213

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