| Toyota has unveiled
a massive driving simulator, designed to analyse driving characteristics
and develop improved active safety technology.
Toyota says that the simulator, located at its Higashifuji Technical
Centre in Japan, provides one of the world’s most realistic simulated
driving environments, allowing driving habits and reactions to be accurately
gauged.
Key to this virtual reality is the use of a real car placed on a platform
housed inside a 7.1 metre diameter dome, the inside of which serves as
a giant 360-degree video screen.
As the driver operates the vehicle, a tilt mechanism, vibration apparatus
and other devices manipulate the dome, which can be moved around an area
the equivalent of four tennis courts, under precise computer control.
The result is a true simulation of the actual sensation of driving, including
a sense of speed, acceleration and riding comfort through turns and other
manoeuvres. Sound effects make the experience even more real.
The simulator will mainly be used to analyse driving characteristics under
such conditions as falling asleep at the wheel and drowsiness, glancing
from side to side and not checking that the road is safe, fatigue or illness,
as well as in developing active safety technology.
Driving Simulator
Specifications
Dome size
Height: 4.5m; diameter: 7.1m
Dome mobility
Max. 35m lengthways, 20m sideways
Dome tilt
Max. 25 degrees
Level of vibration
Max. variation of 50mm up or down
Sensation of speed
Max. 0.5G
Turntable rotation
Max. 330 degrees in either direction
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