Investigators: Mike McDonald, Pengjun Zheng
Sponsors: EPSRC, HEFCE, TRW and University of Southampton
Website: None

• Introduction
• Instrumentation
• Research Areas
• Deployment and Use
• Research Team
• Further Details
• Publications

Introduction

A key problem facing traffic and transportation engineering is the lack of understanding of driver behaviour. Although many models exist to describe how people drive, little data is available with which to check their validity. Data is particularly important to allow such models to form a sound basis against which new technology and applications can be evaluated.

Whilst virtual reality simulators may be used to observe behaviour, these are very expensive and drivers may not act realistically. An alternative is to use an instrumented vehicle - a vehicle fitted with sensors that travels in the traffic stream. The vehicle can collect time series information on the behaviour of a test driver or adjacent vehicles.

The TRG Instrumented Vehicles are among the few fully instrumented units. The new TRG SRIF2 vehicle has been developed with the support from the EPSRC, HEFCE, TRW and the University of Southampton. It is a Fiat Stilo equipped with a range of sensors. The vehicle enables tests and trials to be carried out in real environments on the road, with safety tests being performed on a private test track. It is an essential tool for pure and applied research on future vehicle systems and how they may relate to, and change, current driving behaviour.

Instrumentation

The vehicle is equipped with a range of sensors allowing measurement of:

Vehicle kinematic characteristics, measured through a Race-logic VBox III dGPS at 100 Hz, enabling accurate measurement of speed and acceleration yaw rate, and various engine parameters such as load, RPM, throttle position. A TRW lane guidance system tracks lateral movements of the vehicle, and measures lane width, vehicle lateral position, lateral drift velocity and road curvature.

The proximity of surrounding vehicles, measured through the use of two IBEO ALASCA laser rangefinders. These measurements are supplemented by the use of two TRW Auto-cruise radar sensors, each returning data on up to 4 target vehicles. The sensors are fitted within the radiator grill or bumper to ensure that they are hidden from other road users.

Visual search behaviour, measuring the fraction of time and circumstances under which a driver looks at different parts of road scene or into the in-vehicle displays such as touch-screen, speedometer etc., automatically measured by a Seeing Machines faceLAB system, which can operate on either a continuous or an event-driven basis, providing several measurements including: Gaze direction, Head position, Gaze objects, Driver's eyelid position and Blink rates, at 60 Hz.

Driving environment and in-vehicle operations, a complete digital video record of the driver and surroundings will be maintained through a video monitoring system, allowing images to be recorded of the front/rear view, in-vehicle overview and driver's foot movements.

Data logging system, data streams are logged using three computers: the first is dedicated to the eye tracking system; the second is dedicated to the ALASCA laser rangefinder; and the third for logging other devices. There are two LCD monitors in the vehicle to enable the monitoring of the operation of all vehicle systems and sensors.

The vehicle may collect data either continuously, or in response to user-triggered events. Sensors may be monitored and controlled from a keyboard in the rear of the vehicle, or, if solo experimentation is desired, activated according to a pre-programmed logging sequence by the driver. Logged data is written to DVD for post collection archiving and a range of application specific analysis packages are available, such as the example shown here.

Research Areas

• Driver Information Systems and Controls
  • Impact of ITS on driver performance
  • Measured through: time on task, eyes off-road time, driver steering, speed or headway
  • FaceLab automated eye tracking.
• Human Factors
• Classification of Driving Styles
• Compare driving populations from differing countries and regions to assess differences in impacts of ITS
• Evolutionary ADAS Systems Research & Testing
• Vehicle/Highway Interactions
• Dealing with Socio-Economic Changes
• Environmental Impact

Deployment and Use

Since 1997, the TRG instrumented vehicles have been used in projects funded by the EC, EPSRC, DTI, Highways Agency and vehicle manufacturers. This has included measurements and assessments of:

• Reaction times
• Lane change gap acceptance
• Speed - distance relationships (see below)

• Speed perception
• Behaviour on approach to slow moving vehicles
• Effect of bad weather and night driving
• International variations in behaviour within the DIATS project (see below)

• Vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to roadside communication links within the TACO and RTA projects
• Probe vehicle derived network information, as part of the RTA project
• Emission profiles during typical driving cycles, as part of the AVERT project
• Performance assessment of Driver Assistance Systems such as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) and Collision Warning (see below), as part of STARDUST project
• Driver merging behaviour and performance assessment of ramp metering, as in the Ramp Metering Pilot Scheme: Driver Behaviour Studies project
• Driver distraction in using voice-activation interfaces, as in the Improving Driver Performance in using Voice-activation Systems project
• Investigation of how drivers can be influenced towards safer and greener driving styles via in-vehicle technology, as in FootLite project
• Assessment of wireless communication systems and observation of drivers route choice behaviour, as in the Reading Area Transport Information Network project

Research Team

Members of TRG who have been involved with the use of the vehicle include (* former member of TRG):
Prof. Mike McDonald
Dr. Pengjun Zheng
Mr. Malcolm Williams
Mr Brian Mould
Mr. Doug Robinson
Mr. Eammon Kennard
Dr Jianping Wu
Mr Granville Fisher
Dr Mark Brackstone*
Dr Greg Marsden*
Dr Beshr Sultan*

Further Details

For further information on the instrumented vehicle please contact:

Publications

Where applicable, articles can be downloaded and printed for the reader's personal research and study.

2007

Brackstone, M., McDonald, M. "Driver headway: How close is too close on a motorway?" Ergonomics 50(8), pp.1183-1195

Wu, J., McDonald, M. and Chatterjee, K. "A Detailed Evaluation of Ramp Metering Impacts on Driver Behaviour". Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour,10(1), pp. 61-75

Zheng, P. and McDonald, M. "Evaluation of the Effects of Ramp Metering on Merging Operations". Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2012, pp 105-112

2006

Zheng, P., McDonald, M. and Wu, J. "Evaluation of Collision Warning-Collision Avoidance Systems Using Empirical Driving Data". Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1944, pp1-7

Yuan, Y., Wu, J. and Chen, D. "The relationship of shockwave propagation and the headway". 11th International Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems

2005

Piao, J. and McDonald, M. "An Assessment of User Acceptance of Intelligent Speed Adaptation Systems". 8th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems

Zheng, P. and McDonald, M. "Application of Fuzzy Systems in the Car-Following Behaviour Analysis". Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Instrumented vehicles and driver behaviour. What can and can't we do?" 37th Annual Meeting of the Universities' Transport Study Group, (3)8C, Bristol, UK, January

Zheng, P. and McDonald, M. "Manual vs. Adaptive Cruise Control - Can Driver's Expectation be Matched?" Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 13(5-6), pp421-431

2004

Sultan, B., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Evidence for the use of Deceleration/Acceleration in Car Following". Transpn. Res. Rec., 1883, pp 31-39, 2004.

McDonald, M., Brackstone, M. and Bishop, D. "Advanced Driver Assistance Systems State of the Art and the Future. Results from the ATLANTIC Project." Proc. of the 12th Int. Conf. on Road Transport Information and Control. CD-ROM, IEE. London. April, 2004.

Brackstone, M. and Waterson, B. "Are We Looking Where We Are Going? An Exploratory Examination of Eye Movement in High Speed Driving". Proc. of the 83rd Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Paper 04-2602, CD-ROM. TRB, Washington, D.C. U.S.A. Jan. 11-15, 2004.

Brackstone, M. "The Driver as an Informed Controller. A Fast fix for AVCSS?" Proc. of the 83rd Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Paper 04-2398, CD-ROM. TRB, Washington, D.C. U.S.A. Jan. 11-15, 2004.

2003

Brackstone, M. "Driver Psychological Types and Car Following. Is there a Correlation? Results of a Pilot Study". Proc. of the 2nd International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design. Park City, Utah, July 21-24. TRB CD-ROM

Marsden, G., McDonald, M. and Brackstone, M. "A Comparative Assessment of Driving Behaviours at Three Sites". European Journal of Transportation and Infrastructure Research, 3(1), 2003.

STARDUST Project: Critical Analysis of ADAS/AVG Options to 2010, Selection of Options to be Investigated. STARDUST Deliverable 1. CEC, Brussels, Belgium. 2003.

STARDUST Project: Scenarios and Evaluation Framework for City Studies. STARDUST Deliverable 2 and 3. CEC, Brussels, Belgium. 2003.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Driver Behaviour and Traffic Modelling. Are we looking at the Right Issues?". Proc. of the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium 2003, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A., June 9-11. CD-ROM, IEEE.

Piao, J. and McDonald, M. "Analysis of Stop&Go Driving Behaviour through a Floating Vehicle Approach". Proc. of the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium 2003, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A., June 9-11. CD-ROM, IEEE.

Sultan, B. and McDonald, M. "Assessing the Safety Benefit of Automatic Collision Avoidance Systems". Proc. of the 18th Int. Technical Conf. on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (18th ESV). Nagoya, Japan, May 19-22.

Marsden, G., Brackstone, M , Sultan, B. and McDonald, M. "A Comparison of Differing Driving Populations using the ICC FOT Scheme". Proc. of the 82nd Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Paper 03-3140, CD-ROM. TRB, Washington, D.C. U.S.A. Jan. 12-16, 2003.

Wu, J., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "The Validation of A Microscopic Simulation Model: A Methodological Case Study". T.Res. C, 11(6), pp 463-479. 2003.

2002

Brackstone, M. "In-vehicle Telematics Understanding Driver Behaviour Comes First". Traffic Engineering and Control, 43(10), pp 392-393, Nov. 2002.

Sultan, B., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Parameter Analysis for Collision Avoidance System". Proc. of the 9th World Congress on ITS, Chicago, U.S.A., Oct., 2002.

Sultan, B., Brackstone, M., Waterson, B., Boer, B. "Modeling the Dynamic Cut-In Situation". Transpn. Res. Rec., 1803, pp 45-51, 2002.

Wedlock, M., McDonald, M., Kölbl, R. and Brackstone, M. "Road Traffic Advisor - What did it achieve and where is it going?". Proc. of the 11th Int. Conf. on Road Transport Information and Control. Conference Publication 486, IEE, London, March 2002. pp 15-19.

Kölbl, R., McDonald, M., Fisher, G. and Brackstone, M. "Probe Vehicle: A comparison of a motorway performance measure with other motorway flow detection techniques". Proc. of the 11th Int. Conf. on Road Transport Information and Control. Conference Publication 486, IEE, London, March 2002. pp 182-186.

Brackstone, M., Sultan, B. and McDonald, M. "Motorway Driver Behaviour: Studies in Car Following". T.Res. F, 5(1), pp 329-344. 2002.

2001

Brackstone, M., Fisher, G. and McDonald, M. "The Use of Probe Vehicles on Motorways, Some Empirical Observations". Proc. of the 8th World Congress on ITS, Sydney, Austalia, Oct., 2001

Marsden, G., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Assessment of the Stop and Go function using real driving behaviour". Proc. of the ADAS 2001 Conference, Birmingham, U.K. IEE Conference Publication 483, IEE, London, Sept. 2001. pp 76-80.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Driver Behaviour Studies in the Motorway Operations Platform Grant". Proc. of 'Driver Assessment 2001', Aspen, Colorado, U.S.A, Aug., 2001. TRB, CD-ROM.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Barriers to Motorway Traffic Operations, and their Potential Solution". Proc. of the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium 2001, Tokyo, May, 2001.

McDonald, M., Marsden, G. and Brackstone, M. "Deployment of Inter-Urban ATT Test Scenarios (DIATS) Implications for the European Road Network". Transp. Rev., 21(3), pp 303-336, 2001.

Marsden, G., McDonald, M. and Brackstone, M. "Towards and Understanding of Adaptive Cruise Control". T.Res. C, 9(1), pp 33-51, 2001.

Brown, A., Cullen, E., Wu, J., Brackstone, M., Gunton, D., and McDonald, M. "Vehicle to Vehicle Communication Outage and its Impact on Convoy Driving". Proc. of the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium 2000, Dearborn, MI, U.S.A. Oct. 2000.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "A Comparison of EU and US Progress in the Development of Longitudinal AVCSS". Transp. Rev., 20(2), pp 173-90, 2000.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Car Following: A Historical Review". T.Res F, 2(4) pp 181-96. 2000.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. " What is the answer? And come to that, what are the questions?". T.Res F, 2(4) pp 221-24. 2000.

Brackstone, M. "An Examination of the Use of Fuzzy Sets to Describe Relative Speed Perception". Ergonomics, 43(4), pp 528-42. 2000.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Behavioural Response: A Major Concern for AVCSS?". ITS Journal, 5(4), pp 363-382, 2000.

Wu, J., McDonald, M. and Brackstone, M. "Effect of Convoy Driving on Motorway Flow Stability". Proc. of the 10th Int. Conf. on Road Transport Information and Control. April, 2000. IEE Conference Publication 472, IEE, London. pp 91-95.

Wu, J., Brackstone, M., McDonald, M. "Fuzzy Sets and Systems for a Motorway Microscopic Simulation Model". Fuzzy Sets and Systems 116(1), pp 65-76, 2000.

Brackstone, M., Sultan, B. and McDonald, M. "Some Findings on the Approach Process between Vehicles on Motorways". Transpn. Res. Rec., 1724, pp 21-28, 2000.

McDonald, M., Brackstone, M., Sultan, B. and Roach, C. "Close Following on the Motorway: Initial Findings of an Instrumented Vehicle Study". Vision in Vehicles Conference VII. 381-9. Elsevier, Netherlands.

Brackstone, M. McDonald, M. and Sultan, B. "Dynamic Behavioural Data Collection Using an Instrumented vehicle". Transpn. Res. Rec., 1689, pp 9-17, 1999.

McDonald, M., Wu, J. and Brackstone, M. "Convoy Driving, the Concept and its Potential Improvement to Motorway Capacity". Proc. of the 6th ITS World Congress, Toronto, Canada. Nov., 1999.

Brackstone, M., McDonald, M. and Sultan, B. "A Collision Model for the Assessment of the Safety Benefits of AVCSS". Proc. of the 6th ITS World Congress, Toronto, Canada. Nov., 1999.

Brackstone, M., McDonald, M., Sultan, B. and Mould, B. "Five years of the Instrumented vehicle. What have we learned?". Traffic Engineering and Control, 40(11), pp 537-40. Nov., 1999.

Marsden, G., McDonald, M. and Brackstone, M. "Adaptive Cruise Control - What Can the Network Operator Expect?". Proc. of the European Transport Conf. - Seminar D. Vol. P432, pp 67-78. Robinson College, Cambridge Univ., Sept., 1999.

Brackstone, M., Law, N. and M. McDonald. "The Effect of Darkness and Rain on Motorway Driver Behaviour". 8th Vision in Vehicles Conference. Boston, U.S.A., Aug. 1999.

Touran, A., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "A Collision Model for Safety Evaluation of Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control". Accid. Analy. and Prev., 31(5), pp 567-78.

Aron, M., Brackstone, M., Marsden, G. and Espie, S. "Analysis of Car-Following into Different Phases". Proc. of the 1st Int. DRiiVE Workshop (Driving Research In Instrumented Vehicles). VTT, Espoo, Finland, July, 1999.

McDonald, M. and Marsden, M., et. al. "Final Report". DIATS Project (RO-96-SC.301), DGVII, CEC, Brussels, Belgium. May, 1999.

Marsden, G., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Inter-urban Scenario Assessment of Adaptive Cruise Control". Proc. of the Seminar on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Vehicle Control for the Future. S653. April, 1999. IMechE Seminar Publication 1999-13. IMechE, London.

Couch, N., Waterhouse, J., Wu, J., Brackstone, M., McDonald, M. and Lansdown, T. "Technologies for Advanced Cooperative Driving - A Study of the Operation of Road Convoys". Proc. of the Seminar on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Vehicle Control for the Future. S653. April, 1999. IMechE Seminar Publication 1999-13. IMechE, London.

McDonald, M., Brackstone, M., Wu, J., Marsden, G. and Sultan, B. "An Integrated Behavioural and Simulation Test Environment for Use in Freeway ITS Development". Proc. of the ITS America Annual Conference, Washington D.C., U.S.A., April, 1999.

Touran, A., Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "A Computer Model for Assessing AICC". Proc. of the ASCE International Computing Congress, Boston, U.S.A., Oct. 1998.

Grime, R., Koulandis, N., Strang, D., McDonald, M. and Marsden, M. "Assessment of Legal Issues Relevant to the Deployment of ATT Systems". Deliverable 16. DIATS Project (RO-96-SC.301), DGVII, CEC, Brussels, Belgium. Oct. 1998.

Vaa, T., Vatn, J., McDonald, M. and Marsden, M. "Assessment of the Safety Issues Relevant to the Deployment of ATT Systems". Deliverable 15. DIATS Project (RO-96-SC.301), DGVII, CEC, Brussels, Belgium. Oct. 1998.

Dens, L., Gayda, S., McDonald, M., Marsden, M. and Brackstone, M. "User Preference and Behavioural Changes from ATT Systems". Deliverable 13-14. DIATS Project (RO-96-SC.301), DGVII, CEC, Brussels, Belgium. Oct. 1998.

McDonald, M., Marsden, M., and Espie, S., et. al. "Investigation of Impacts of Selected ATT Function by Simulation Models". Deliverable 10-12. DIATS Project (RO-96-SC.301), DGVII, CEC, Brussels, Belgium. Oct. 1998.

McDonald, M. Wu, J., and Brackstone, M. "The Integrated Impacts of Autonomous Cruise Control on Motorway Traffic". Proc. of the 5th Annual World Congress on ITS. Soeul, Korea, Oct. 1998.

McDonald, M., Marsden, G., Demir, C., and Gayda, S. et. al. "Deployment of Interurban ATT Test Scenarios (DIATS) - A European Progress Report". SAE Paper No. 981937. SAE FTT (Future Transportation Technology) Conf., Costa-Mesa, California, U.S.A. Aug., 1998.

McDonald, M., Brackstone, M. and Sultan, B. "Instrumented Vehicle Studies of Traffic Flow Models". Proc. of the 3rd Int. Symp. on Highway Capacity, Copenhagen, Denmark, June, 1998. Vol. 1, pp 757-73.

Brackstone, M., McDonald, M. and Wu, J. "Lane Changing on the Motorway: Factors Effecting its Occurrence, and their Implications". Proc. of 9th Int. Conf. on Road Transport Information and Control. IEE, London, April, 1998. Conference Publication No. 454. pp 160-4. IEE, London.

Brackstone, M., McDonald, M. and Wu, J. "Development of a Fuzzy Logic Based Microscopic Motorway Simulation Model". Proc. of the IEEE Conf. on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC97). Boston, U.S.A. Nov., 1997.

McDonald, M., Brackstone, M. and Austin, L. "Inter-Urban ATT: Some Development Options for the U.K.". Proc. of the 25th PTRC Meeting - Seminar K. Vol. P419. Brunel University, Sept., 1997.

McDonald, M. and Brackstone, M. "The Role of the Instrumented Vehicle in the Collection of Data on Driver Behaviour". Proc. of 'Monitoring of Driver and Vehicle Performance' Coll. Digest No. 97/122. IEE, London, April, 1997.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Development and Deployment of Inter-Urban ATT Test Scenarios (DIATS)". Proc. of the 3rd Annual World Congress on ITS. Orlando, U.S.A., Oct. 1996.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "The Microscopic Modelling of Traffic Flow: Weaknesses and Potential Developments". In: Traffic and Granular Flow. Wolf, D. E. and Schreckenberg, M. Ed. Pub. World Scientific Press, 1996.

Brackstone, M. and McDonald, M. "Modelling Motorway Operations". Transpn. Res. Rec. 1485. pp 56-60. 1995.

McDonald M., Brackstone, M. and Jeffery D. "Simulation of lane usage characteristics on 3 lane motorways". Proc. of the 27th ISATA Conference, Aachen Germany, Nov., 1994.