Skip to main content

TRL's DigiCar driving simulator becomes fully automated

As the path to acceptance of automated vehicles on the UK’s roads moves forward, so does TRL’s role in developing robust research tools to provide the necessary evidence as to the human response to automation and its general acceptance by the driving population. Behind the scenes, TRL experts have been working on developing the software required to enable the transition of DigiCar to run as an automated vehicle as and when required. As a result, TRL’s full mission driving simulator, DigiCar, has devel
November 18, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
As the path to acceptance of automated vehicles on the UK’s roads moves forward, so does 491 TRL’s role in developing robust research tools to provide the necessary evidence as to the human response to automation and its general acceptance by the driving population.

Behind the scenes, TRL experts have been working on developing the software required to enable the transition of DigiCar to run as an automated vehicle as and when required.

As a result, TRL’s full mission driving simulator, DigiCar, has developed into a partially or fully automated vehicle.

DigiCar provides the transport sector with a sophisticated research tool to understand driver behaviours and reactions to environments both within the vehicle itself and outside. Offering a totally safe driving experience, DigiCar provides a platform for repeatable testing, gathering accurate data for analysis and dissemination, enabling Governments, manufacturers and others to make informed decisions regarding the introduction of vehicle automation.

Dr Nick Reed, Principal Human Factors researcher at TRL and vehicle automation expert said:  “We are delighted to have completed this development using a flexible web-based platform to enable partial or full automation of DigiCar. This opens the potential for a range of studies to investigate how automation of the driving task will affect driver behaviour and how transitions between vehicle automation modes are understood by drivers.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Xerox automates HOV/HOT enforcement
    May 27, 2014
    Counting the number of people in a vehicle has always been a manual task, but now Xerox has developed a real-time system to automate the process. Xerox has introduced an automated system that determines the number of passengers in a vehicle, enabling authorities to detect non-qualifying drivers using the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. Traditionally HOV/HOT enforcement has entailed local police visually confirming each vehicle has the required number of occupants and chasin
  • Communication: the future of machine vision
    May 30, 2013
    Jason Barnes asks leading machine vision industry figures what they consider to be the educational barriers to the technology’s increased uptake by the ITS sector. The recent rush by some organisations within the ITS sector to associate themselves with the term ‘machine vision’ underlines just how important the technology has become in a relatively short space of time. However, despite the technology having been applied in certain traffic management applications for some years, there remains a significant s
  • Ford targets fully autonomous vehicle in 2021
    August 17, 2016
    Ford has announced its intention to have a high-volume, fully autonomous vehicle in commercial operation in 2021. The new vehicle will be a Society of Automotive Engineers-rated level 4-capable vehicle without a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. It is being specifically designed for commercial mobility services, such as ride sharing and ride hailing, and will be available in high volumes. SAE level 4 is one level below full automation and is defined as ‘mode-specific performance by an automated
  • ITS asset management matters
    April 26, 2013
    Maintenance of on-road ITS kit needs to become more sophisticated; while new technologies can deliver better road maintenance. David Crawford investigates both sides of the issue "Good information is key to effective ITS asset maintenance,” says Ian Routledge of the Ian Routledge Consultancy (IRC), whose Imtrac (Information Management for TRAffic Control) system is poised for European expansion. Developed as an ‘intelligent filing cabinet’ for storing information about on-road equipment, the online database