Experimal study of young male drivers’ responses to vehicle collision using EMG of lower extremity (original) (raw)
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The use of EMG and video to decompose driver crash avoidance and bracing response
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Dementia & Neuropsychologia
Traffic accidents by older drivers are a social urgent problem. The National Police Agency (NPA) in Japan has institutionalized the Cognitive Function Test (NPA test) for renewal of a driver’s license for older adults. However, driving ability cannot be simply evaluated by usual cognitive tests on the desk. Objective: It is important to add an on-road test, but if not possible, we can use simulators. Before doing simulators, it is important to use the right foot to control the accelerator and brake pedals. We applied the Posner paradigm (visual attention test) for lower extremities. Methods: The participants were older adults. They and their families had anxiety about their driving. The 66 participants (44 men and 22 women) were divided into groups with and without experience of a traffic accident, and the following tests were examined: General cognitive and executive function tests, the NPA test, and an original Lower Extremity Reaction Test. Each participant was asked to press the...
International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 2013
The aim of the study was to verify whether simultaneous responses from the muscular and circulatory system occur in the driver's body under simulated conditions of a crash threat. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in a passenger car driving simulator. The crash was included in the driving test scenario developed in an urban setting. In the group of 22 young male subjects, two physiological signals-ECG and EMG were continuously recorded. The length of the RR interval in the ECG signal was assessed. A HRV analysis was performed in the time and frequency domains for 1-minute record segments at rest (seated position), during undisturbed driving as well as during and several minutes after the crash. For the left and right side muscles: m. trapezius (TR) and m. flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), the EMG signal amplitude was determined. The percentage of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was compared during driving and during the crash. Results: As for the ECG signal, it was found that in most of the drivers changes occurred in the parame tervaluesreflectingHRVinthetimedomain.SignificantchangeswerenotedinthemeanlengthofRRintervals (mRR). As for the EMG signal, the changes in the amplitude concerned the signal recorded from the FDS muscle. The changes in ECG and EMG were simultaneous in half of the cases. Conclusion: Such parameters as mRR (ECG signal) and FDS-L amplitude (EMG signal) were the responses to accident risk. Under simulated conditions, responses from the circulatory and musculoskeletal systems are not always simultaneous. The results indicate that a more complete driver's responsetoacrashinroadtrafficisobtainedbasedonparallelrecordingoftwophysiologicalsignals(ECGandEMG).
Human factors, 2018
Objective To study the relationship between physiological indices and kinematic indices during braking events of different intensities. Background Based on mental workload theory, driving and other task demands may generate changes in physiological indices, such as the driver's heart rate and skin conductance. However, no attempts were made to associate changes in physiological indices with changes in vehicle kinematics that result from the driver attempts to meet task demands. Method Twenty-five drivers participated in a field experiment. We manipulated braking demands using roadside signs to communicate the speed (km/h) before braking (50 or 60) and the target speed for braking (30 or to a complete stop). In an additional session, we asked drivers to brake as if they were responding to an impending collision. We analyzed the relationship between the intensities of braking events as measured by deceleration values (g) and changes in heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin ...
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Logistyka, 2010
This paper describes research studies analysing the behaviour of drivers in the simulated accident risk situation. The study was conducted in two environments: on the Kielce Car Test Track and in the driving simulator autoPW of Warsaw University of Technology. The same 3 (different) situational scenarios of accidents were performed in both environments and the same group of 100 drivers was examined. Each of the examined persons performed the same set of tests, randomly ordered, carried out for various values of the time TTC (time to collision), received as combinations of the tested vehicle velocity and its distance from the roadblock. The vehicle speed was changed within the range from 36 up to 60 km/h, and the distance of the vehicle from the first roadblock from 5 up to 50 m. The paper presents exemplary results of the research studies.
Comparison of Driver Braking Responses in a High-Fidelity Simulator and on a Test Track
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2002
The braking responses of drivers in the Iowa Driving Simulator (IDS) were compared with those of drivers on a test track. The braking profile of drivers was compared in last-minute braking situations in which drivers were instructed to brake “normally” or “hard.” Although the motion and visual cues in the IDS are imperfect, the data agree in many respects. The general pattern of results is similar, with the initial speed and lead vehicle deceleration affecting drivers on the test track and in the simulator in a similar way. In several experimental conditions, the similarity of the responses went beyond the general pattern of response. The mean values were almost identical in several instances, and the values were frequently well within the confidence intervals. Although the simulator and test track drivers performed similarly, differences are apparent from the onset of braking, through the braking process, and in the outcome of the braking event. The instructions concerning normal a...
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This study used a video-based braking simulation dual task to evaluate the effectiveness of a Sudden Brake Warning System (SBWS) of a leading private passenger vehicle on the response time of the following driver. The primary task required the participants (N = 25, 16 females, full NZ licence holders) to respond to sudden braking manoeuvres of a lead vehicle during day and night driving, wet and dry conditions and in rural and urban traffic, while concurrently performing a secondary tracking task, simulating the steering of real driving. The SBWS in the lead vehicle consisted of a g-force controlled activation of the hazard lights in addition to the standard brake lights. Overall, the results revealed that responses to the braking manoeuvres of the leading vehicles when the hazard lights were activated by the warning system were 0.34 s faster compared to the standard brake lights. At 50 km/h, this would translate to a stopping distance saving of 4.7 m which would have the potential of reducing the number and severity of rear-end crashes. The warning system was particularly effective when the simulated braking scenario of the leading vehicle did not require an immediate and abrupt braking response. Given this, the SBWS may also be beneficial for allowing smoother deceleration, thus reducing fuel consumption. Furthermore, the warning system appeared to be equally effective during night / day and in wet / dry conditions. These findings call for a naturalistic study in order to test this new technology in 'real world' braking situations.
Accident; analysis and prevention, 2016
Driver braking behavior was analyzed using time-series recordings from naturalistic rear-end conflicts (116 crashes and 241 near-crashes), including events with and without visual distraction among drivers of cars, heavy trucks, and buses. A simple piecewise linear model could be successfully fitted, per event, to the observed driver decelerations, allowing a detailed elucidation of when drivers initiated braking and how they controlled it. Most notably, it was found that, across vehicle types, driver braking behavior was strongly dependent on the urgency of the given rear-end scenario's kinematics, quantified in terms of visual looming of the lead vehicle on the driver's retina. In contrast with previous suggestions of brake reaction times (BRTs) of 1.5s or more after onset of an unexpected hazard (e.g., brake light onset), it was found here that braking could be described as typically starting less than a second after the kinematic urgency reached certain threshold levels,...