Assembly and testing of a driving simulator

• Main Author: Yeo, Nicholas Xiang Ling.
• Other Authors: Yap Fook Fah
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Motor vehicles
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45985
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report documents the process and setting up of a driving vehicle simulator. In addition, it contains the results of a study on jackknifing of articulated trucks as part of a continuation study on Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) trucks. The project was initially commissioned by PSA in August 2009. A literature review on the various components of a driving simulator was carried out. This included components such as driving simulator programs, motion based platforms, control systems and configurations, seats, steering wheel and pedals. Investigation was carried out though software simulation. The main software used was TruckSim Driving Simulator (DS) produced by Mechanical Simulation Corporation of Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. TruckSim DS is a software tool which can be used for simulating and analyzing the dynamic behavior of medium to heavy trucks, buses and articulated vehicles. The TruckSim DS desktop package includes the basic TruckSim software, plus an RT version of SurfAnim (the animator in TruckSim), plus a real-time block that slows the math model down to "wait" for real time. In addition to verifying the results from the earlier report, the use of TruckSim DS also allows the study of additional factors which contribute to jackknifing i.e driver behavior. These factors could not be previously studied with the use of TruckSim basic version. The study is divided into two main parts. The first part analyses the dynamic behavior of the truck in accordance to environmental and road factors such as the strength of the friction between the wheels of the truck and the road surface, turn entry speed and the presence or absence of an antilock braking system. It is noted, in particular, that the presence of antilock braking system helps to reduce jackknife markedly. The second analyses the effect o f human behavior on the dynamics of the truck. It was noted that whenever the driver makes an abrupt and uneducated evasive action, the chance of jackknife increases markedly. These include turning the truck too fast at high speed, under steering, over steering and/or braking suddenly while turning. The results are presented though the use of plots taken directly from TruckSim DS. Explanations and conclusions are given with each set of results to aid reader interpretation. Animation videos are also provided with the results to further validify the results. Although the TruckSim simulation program provides an accurate dynamic simulation of the truck, the results may differ slightly in reality. This is because TruckSim assumes perfect operating conditions, such as no slack in joints, but this is not normally true in real life. Future improvements to the driving simulator may include the incorporation of a motion base platform which will allow the user to feel real life sensations.