Case Study Development of Virtual Driving Simulator for Transportation Research M. K. Abdul Jalil, PhD Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Johor, Malaysia

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu This presentation … To share with you our short research experience of developing a static base driving simulator  Basis for vehicle related reach activities in the future  Development of basic research in computational and visualization areas

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Introduction  Virtual reality is a technology allows user to feel immersed in a computer-generated environment  A virtual driving simulator is a virtual reality device allows its user to feel a life-like experience of driving an actual vehicle  A driving simulator is cost effective tool to enable analysis on driving characteristics, and interaction between visual database and vehicles  A low cost PC-based static driving simulator can be used to develop VR related system

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu History of Driving Simulator Root on flight simulator in early 1900s Daimler-Benz high-fidelity driving simulator in 1985 with the advent of computer technologies Advanced driving simulator constructed since 1990s The most sophisticated driving simulator around the world, NADS in Iowa

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Advanced Simulator  Capable of simulating the dynamic motions and scenes of actual vehicle with high fidelity simulation output  Construction cost is very high with consists of a visual system, control feel system, dynamic feedback platform, auditory system and complex full developed vehicle dynamic model  Examples: National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), Leeds Advanced Driving Simulator (LADS)

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Why Driving Simulator?  Vehicle Prototyping – new vehicle design, ride and handling  Safety Related Issues – DWI, Cellular Phone, Driving endurance, blind spot  Drivers Training – truck simulators, train simulators

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Components  Visual database - simulation of surrounding environment, including other vehicles  Vehicle Dynamic Model (VDM) - simulation of the physics of vehicle model and the road surface  ‘ Driving Cab ’  A system that enables the operator to interpret the state of the model such as visual display  Control devices, such as steering wheel, brake pedal and throttle

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Our Research..  Static base simulator  PC based, low-cost, with sufficient graphic quality  Components  visual database – audio + visual database  VDM  Vehicle control – accelerator, steering, brake  As a groundwork and preliminary attempt to develop an advanced driving simulator for vehicle related research

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu System Architecture

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Hardware 3 Potentiometers CB-68LP, 68-Pin Digital and Trigger I/O Terminal Block NI PCI 6024E, 200 kS/s, 12-Bit, 16 Analog Input Multifunction DAQ To PCI slot of Server CPU

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Issues …  Visual Database Rendering cost  Effective way of producing a detailed image, without using too much computer power  Graphic optimization is implemented – LOD  Simulation Frame-rate & Fidelity of Vehicle Driving Simulator  Large graphical delays mean a great risk of the driver getting dizzy even if the screen has good acuity  Acceptable frame-rate to human user (approx 40 frame/second)  Enough quality and temporal response for driving tasks and maneuvers  Real-time Computation of Vehicle Dynamic Model (VDM)  The ability to run in real time depends on the integration time step and the complexity of the vehicle dynamic model  6 DOF VDM is used

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Visual Database  VR environment is developed using WorldToolKit (WTK) programming language.  All models created using AutoCAD & 3D Studio  WTK reads these models into the VR environment and manage them under Scene Graph  WTK universe includes:  Static models – sky, landscape, buildings, road, barriers, lights  Effects – fog, sound  Transform node – driver ’ s view port in VR environment  Position information – current position data extraction

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Scene Graph Management Universe Root Node Light NodeGroup Node Position Information Transform Node Geometry Node Driver View port

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Graphic Construction & Optimisation  Shell Modeling  Texture Mapping  Visible Facet  Foggy Effect  Recursion Technique  Collision Detection  Level of Detail (LOD)

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Shell Modeling  Models loaded into WTK are prepared in 3D shell (rather than solid) for polygon reduction.  Shell modelling reduces memory usage in the rendering of model internal parts

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Texture Mapping  Texture mapping to improve visual database realism  Real photo images were taken by using digital camera and exported in.jpeg format

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Visible Facet  Visible facet of building containing window frames and wall are created using single polygon with wall textures image mapped on the polygon to minimize graphical complexity

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Fog Effect  Driver visibility  Linear model used

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Collision Detection  Realistic road driving simulation  Against curbs, buildings, etc

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Level of Detail (LOD)  Closer objects – good graphics  Far objects – minimal rendering

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu WTK Virtual Environment

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Network Data Transmission  Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was employed as the data transmission protocol between 2 PC ’ s  TCP is a connection-based protocol designed to ensure smooth data transfer

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Vehicle Dynamic Model (VDM)  The vehicle dynamic model is computed using MATLAB- SIMULINK program in the server computer  SIMULINK S-function block constructs a TCP/IP port for data interface with the client computer

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Handling Dynamic Model The velocities components and from vehicle velocity, and its sideslip angle, in the equations Equations of motion of handling system Handling Coefficients Corresponds To Velocity (Courtesy from Motor Vehicle Dynamic, World Scientific)

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Handing and Cornering Effect The view port is from the position of vehicle c.g.

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Quarter-Car Model A two-degree of freedom quarter-car model is suitable to examine the forces acting on the suspension system natural frequency up to 30-50Hz Arrange in the form of Newton’s Second Law, the unsprung mass vertical acceleration is computed

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Full-Car Model The result obtained from quarter-car model is substituted into Full-car model. The equation of motions of suspension system are Hence, the variables of dynamic model is obtained Full-Car Model

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Visualization of Suspension Response The view port is from the position of vehicle c.g.

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Suspension Response of Vehicle Road Input, [Z] Vertical Translation, z Roll angle Pitch angle

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Conclusion  Our first attempt to develop a low-cost static base driving simulator using VR technology is almost completed.  This project provides the groundwork for future development of advanced driving simulator.

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Future work  Integration of Motion base  Development of traffic simulation  Comprehensive database development  More efficient computational and graphics rendering methods – parallel rendering, better approximation methods

© Engineering Visualization Research Group (EVRG) ICPDD ’04, Kota Kinabalu Thank You Contact: