A Driving Simulator for UN157 Homologation Activities

UN157 Regulation is devoted to the homologation of SAE Level 3 automated vehicles. The research and development activities related with the Regulation may require an extensive usage of driving simulators. Developing a sickness-free driving simulator is crucial for extensive tests to be performed with ordinary drivers. The paper presents the technical features of the new driving simulator of the Politecnico di Milano. A number of biometric set of signals is recorded, namely, forces and moments at each single hand at the steering wheel, heart rate variability, skin resistance potential, eye movements. A matching of the objective monitoring of the driver is compared with the subjective psychological status. An initial population of 30 subjects has been investigated. The new driving simulator has shown a good acceptance by ordinary drivers. Both objective and psychologic subjective assessment agree to state that the new driving simulator may be used to test ordinary driver behavior in a motorway scenario.