Human
How We Steer Our Cars: Innate Behavior Determines How We Drive
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Jan 02, 2015 09:31 AM EST
Scientists may have discovered the answer to a 70-year-old mystery when it comes to driving. They've found out why there's an inexplicable jerkiness when we steer a vehicle. The findings could potentially lead to safety systems that can correct dangerous steering movements.
As early as 1947, researchers created the first model to show how a person steers toward a target. It turns out that the driver gently and continuously follows the road with the steering wheel, a behavior known as tracking within control theory. Yet there are some deviations from this model; jerkiness in the steering signal can occur.
In this latest study, the researchers studied how human move their hand from Point A to pick up something from Point B. The speed of the movement has a direction relationship with distance; the longer the distance, the quicker the movement. The effect is that the time for the movement is the same regardless of the distance.
"We immediately recognized this pattern from our measured steer signals," said Ola Benderius, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It was a bit of a eureka moment. Was it possible that this basic human behavior also controlled how we steer a car?"
The researchers then extracted over 1,000 hours of car and truck driving from real driving data. This resulted in 1.3 million steer corrections. About 95 percent of these corrections corresponded with the reaching theory.
"We were able to use this theory to explain what researchers have been trying to solve for a long time," said Benderius. "This was the answer to the previously inexplicable jerkiness in the control signal. Rather than looking upon steering as continuously following the road, steering corrections seem to be applied in a very predetermined manner. The control behavior has also proven to be very natural; I saw this in an earlier study where I examined driving behavior in 12-year-olds and their parents."
The findings reveal a bit more about how people drive. This, in turn, could lead to the development of new steering systems that could potentially play a huge role in driving safety.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of America
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
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First Posted: Jan 02, 2015 09:31 AM EST
Scientists may have discovered the answer to a 70-year-old mystery when it comes to driving. They've found out why there's an inexplicable jerkiness when we steer a vehicle. The findings could potentially lead to safety systems that can correct dangerous steering movements.
As early as 1947, researchers created the first model to show how a person steers toward a target. It turns out that the driver gently and continuously follows the road with the steering wheel, a behavior known as tracking within control theory. Yet there are some deviations from this model; jerkiness in the steering signal can occur.
In this latest study, the researchers studied how human move their hand from Point A to pick up something from Point B. The speed of the movement has a direction relationship with distance; the longer the distance, the quicker the movement. The effect is that the time for the movement is the same regardless of the distance.
"We immediately recognized this pattern from our measured steer signals," said Ola Benderius, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It was a bit of a eureka moment. Was it possible that this basic human behavior also controlled how we steer a car?"
The researchers then extracted over 1,000 hours of car and truck driving from real driving data. This resulted in 1.3 million steer corrections. About 95 percent of these corrections corresponded with the reaching theory.
"We were able to use this theory to explain what researchers have been trying to solve for a long time," said Benderius. "This was the answer to the previously inexplicable jerkiness in the control signal. Rather than looking upon steering as continuously following the road, steering corrections seem to be applied in a very predetermined manner. The control behavior has also proven to be very natural; I saw this in an earlier study where I examined driving behavior in 12-year-olds and their parents."
The findings reveal a bit more about how people drive. This, in turn, could lead to the development of new steering systems that could potentially play a huge role in driving safety.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of America
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone