ermans get close to the real thing
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kIMLER-BENZ is to extend its research facilities with the construcan of a driving simulator which will cost around Om.
Investigations have revealed at such simulators can be used 'fectively in vehicle de)Iopment only if they are cap)le of fully simulating condi)ns on any type of road with II use of the latest technology, ich as computers and ectronic control.
The driver sits in the simulator as in a lorry and receives the impression that he is in a complete vehicle. He thus acts in the same way on the road by steering, braking, operating the clutch and so on.
A simulation computer, into which the specific characteristics of a vehicle have been programmed in advance, calculates the reactions of the vehicle so quickly that the "driving" processes take place exactly as on the road.
A display system shows the driver the road, landscape and traffic, and supplies the information for his driving.
The operating and display systems are co-ordinated via a central computer with noise and air conditioning being reproduced as realistically as possible.
Weather conditions such as fog, rain, snow, cross-winds or black ice and movements by other road users can also be introduced via this computer, as well as light variations such as at night, dawn or dusk.
The display screen will be of the digital type whereby a landscape is stored point by point in the computer and then projected with the correct perspective on to a 180° panoramic screen.
In this way Daimler-Benz claim it will be possible to investigate interactions between drivers, vehicles and the environment beyond the limits that can be mastered by skilled test drivers.
So the tests can be carried out by average drivers with no risk to other road users or to the driver himself.
Apart from the safety aspect, the simulator will also be able to provide information on such non-vehicle areas as traffic light control systems.
No simulator with such a performance range is known at the moment, but Daimler-Benz hope to have this one in service in about three years.