AU2007100585A4

AU2007100585A4 - A Vehicle Driving Simulator

Info

Publication number: AU2007100585A4
Application number: AU2007100585A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Robert Grant
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-06-21
Filing date: 2007-06-21
Publication date: 2007-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 2015-06-21
Also published as: AU2007100585B4

Description

O

A VEHICLE DRIVING SIMULATOR Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates to vehicle or driving simulators and particularly to a more realistic vehicle simulator.

Background Art.

00 A vehicle simulator can be defined as a system that simulates the Ooperating conditions of a vehicle in an environment. Where the vehicle simulated is a car, the environment typically includes a road. In this case the environment may also include weather conditions such as rain or snow. Besides cars, examples of other types of vehicles that may be simulated include airplanes, ships, submersibles and space vehicles.

Vehicle simulators provide the means to efficiently train vehicle operators. That is, a simulator can be used where an operator has a need to safely learn how to operate the particular vehicle being simulated. Rather than train an operator on a real-world vehicle, the simulator is used thereby avoiding accidents. Clearly, experience garnered through making mistakes on a simulator is invaluable when compared to the inherent risks of vehicle damage, and moreover, operator injury, associated with making a driving error in a real-life situation.

In some sense, a simulator achieves a balance between testing the operator's knowledge of the "rules of the road" and testing the operator's use of a vehicle. Testing the operator's knowledge is typically and conveniently accomplished through written and/or verbal examinations. However, examinations are of limited usefulness for operator training. For example, operator reflexes are not tested at all, and, moreover, such examinations do not adequately address the skills necessary for real-time decision-making.

Besides concerns for operator safety, the other alternative, actual vehicle operation, has its pitfalls too. First, the cost of instructor time may be prohibitive. Furthermnnore, the actual vehicle itself, such as for space or undersea operation, may simply not be available. Lastly, there is always the risk of an accident when a student is training on an actual vehicle under realistic conditions. Although a certain amount of training may occur in benign environments, for example, learning to drive a car in an empty parking lot, there comes a time, early in the operator's training, where driving in an unrealistic environment is no longer useful or practical.

Vehicle simulators address the issue of presenting the operator with a realistic training environment.

Video arcade games are another technology providing a certain degree of user feedback. Arcade games are typically placed in public areas such as arcade halls, theaters, airports and other such areas where the users can occupy time and 00 entertain themselves by playing the game. Arcade games utilizing video displays have O been around for some time now, beginning with the simplistic game of bouncing a Sball across a line with paddles known as "Pong". However, with the passage of time, Ovideo arcade games have become ever more sophisticated and realistic. Because C 10 arcade games have housings which occupy limited space, the game computer equipment is subject to strict space constraints. In addition, the user's interest must be captured and maintained by the simulator, thus requiring that processing be accomplished in real-time. The competing space and time goals thus make the task of injecting realism into the games more difficult.

In many senses, the arcade game called "Hard Drivin'.TM.", manufactured and distributed by Atari Games Corp. of Milpitas, Calif., represents the state of the art in arcade game realism. The physical layout of the game includes clutch, brake and gas pedals, a gearshift and a steering wheel. The user, or driver, is provided feedback response from a video display having a three-dimensional graphical representation of the driving environment and from a speaker which generates realistic sounds of driving. A digital processor, comprising a number of microprocessors and a memory, is the interface between the user inputs and the feedback response.

Many current arcade games, including the one previously described, require that the user compete against some unknown "best" or "champion" player who has played the game at some point in the past. A player becomes a new champion by maximizing some metric or set of parameters and thereby displacing a previous champion. Besides the noted issue of anonymity, in most of these arcade games the only indicia of the champion's skill level is a single numeric score. Hence, there is no indication of what moves, speeds, etc., the champion used to obtain the high score. A recording of a game would be most important if the user desired to improve his skill level as against someone having greater skill at playing the game such as the champion.

Other systems have incorporated the device of connecting two arcade games together and having users compete against one another with full knowledge of who they are competing against, their actions being coordinated and displayed N simultaneously. In such multiple machine configurations, a serious disadvantage is that it is costly to the proprietor since the play area doubles and the cost of machines Vt) 00 doubles for the given game. Furthermore, these games do not present an indication of O what moves an individual player needs to improve if the competing player happens to Sbe less skillful than his counterpart.

OIt will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to 10 herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.

Summary of the Invention.

The present invention is directed to a vehicle simulator, which may at least partially overcome at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

With the foregoing in view, the present invention in one form, resides broadly in a vehicle driving simulator including a computer-implemented vehicle driving simulation program including at least one simulated vehicle, a production car body adjusted to leave both the exterior and interior of the driver side cabin intact, a visual display means located in a portion of the windscreen opening, and a steering wheel in communication with the computer driving simulation program such that movements of the steering wheel are reflected by a simulated vehicle displayed on the visual display means.

The present invention is directed towards providing a more realistic vehicle driving simulator than the conventional simulators and achieves this by utilising a "cut-down" production car body which immediately achieves increased realism due to it being an actual car body.

The invention is a vehicle driving simulator. The simulator is designed for a user to sit in the simulator and be completely enclosed in the driver side cabin.

The simulator is adapted to allow relocation such that the invention can be provided as a mobile device, requiring only a power supply in order to operate. The simulator is designed to simulate a driving experience as the only inputs when a user is driving a car are visual cues mainly through the windscreen and on a secondary level through the window, feedback from the vehicles controls and vibrations from the vehicle, namely a combination of engine vibration and vibration from the surface over which the vehicle is travelling.

Vibration feedback is the most difficult of the three main types of input to recreate in the simulator of the present invention, but may be captured by mounting 00 the production car body on a plurality of actuators to simulate the movement of the car O and by providing simulated engine noise and vibrations.

The visual cues are provided from the visual display device located in Sthe windscreen opening and feedback from the vehicle controls are more easily recreated by providing the simulator with the three main vehicle controls, namely the steering wheel, pedals and gear shift, all of which will preferably be linked to the computer implemented driving simulation program.

The present invention includes a computer-implemented vehicle driving simulation program including at least one simulated vehicle. There are a variety of computer-implemented driving simulation programs available in the art and any one or more can be used. These simulation programs typically operate on a computer hardware platform or dedicated gaming console such as Sony Playstation®, Microsoft X-Box® or Nintendo Gamecube®. The platform normally runs software which includes a number of racetrack layouts, offroad layouts or urban layouts and a plurality of vehicles against which the user normally races. In some instances, the aim of the game is simply to finish or to accomplish other goals such as score a predetermined number of points by performing driving manocuvres but normally, the program simulates a race between a number of vehicles. The common theme in all of the computer programs is that the user is competing against either computer simulated vehicles controlled by the computer program or by other users.

The invention also includes a production car body adjusted to leave both the cxterior and interior of the driver side cabin intact. Using an actual production car as a base for the simulator provides a cabin which is most similar to maintain realism of the simulator.

The production car body is normally adapted to minimise the size of the simulator and also to decrease weight. Normally, the vehicle body used will be the production car model of a race car such as a Holden or Ford to simulate an Australian V8 Supercar race car, or may be a similar type of vehicle for overseas markets. It is also anticipated that the production car may be a high end sports car such as a Porsche or similar for different markets.

Any type of vehicle may be used. The production car of a preferred rembodiment of the present invention is a utility vehicle having a tray which simplifies the adaptation of the vehicle. However, a sedan or coupe body may be adapted 00 according to similar principles. The following description is based upon use of a Outility vehicle.

The production car normally has the engine and drive train removed as well as all of the components of the vehicle suspension and wheels. Indeed, in forming the simulator from the production car body, normally the front of the vehicle will be removed from adjacent the rear firewall in the engine compartment, the rear of the vehicle will also typically be removed from just behind the rear of the cabin. Also, the passenger side of the vehicle will normally be removed and a wall provided to enclose the driver side. Typically the wall is provided on the passenger side of the centre console of the vehicle as the gear shift is typically located through the centre console.

Adapting a vehicle in this manner leaves the driver side of the dash intact including indicator dials. Indeed the cabin is essentially unchanged from the production car cabin. Ideally, the controls within the cabin will be retained and simply connected to provide inputs and outputs for the computer simulation program. For example, the standard steering wheel, gear shift and pedals may be retained but connected to appropriate sensors to provide inputs into the computer simulation program and the dash display retained and adapted to receive outputs from the computer simulation program in order to display simulated vehicle speed, simulated engine RPM's and other ancillaries such as fuel and oil levels usually through connection to the existing vehicle electric system. The gear shifts may be provided as steering column or wheel-mounted "paddles" to simulate a sequential gearbox.

In some simpler simulator devices, only elements of the controls may operate in this manner, for example the input controls of steering wheel, pedals and gearshift. In some simulators the existing steering wheel may be replaced by a similar computer gaming input steering wheel device which are available in the art.

Typically, other elements of the vehicle driver side cabin are retained such as the production car vehicle seat, although the production seat may be replaced with a "racing" seat with appropriate harness, the production car door for ingress and egress from the simulator. The seat may be moveable in a manner similar to a conventional production car and typically, the original seat moving and locking means may be utilised for this purpose.

Race cars often have substantial alterations in the form of roll cages 00 and the like for safety reasons and these may be provided in the simulator of the O present inventions in some embodiments to further increase the realism of the simulator.

SThe simulator of the present invention includes a visual display means located in a portion of the windscreen opening. As a part of the alterations made to the production car body, the windscreen will also typically be removed and at least partially replaced with a visual display screen on which the computer simulator program will display the visual component of the simulated driving experience.

Normally, the visual display screen will be a high quality display to enhance realism of the simulation, such as a plasma display or a liquid crystal display. Typically, the screen will be quite large and most preferred is a screen large enough to extend across the entire remainder of the windscreen opening after the production car body has been cut down.

The screen will normally be oriented substantially vertically and mounted relative to a lower edge of the windscreen opening. This will normally require that side and top closure panels be provided to enclose the screen. These panels are preferably darkened to limit possibly distractions and enhancing the viewability of the visual display. The panels may be manufactured of any suitable material and normally plastic will be used. Any portion of the windscreen opening which may be open after the proper location of the visual display screen may be closed by panels which are also darkened. Where provided, the rear window of the vehicle cabin will also be darkened.

The screen is preferably a simply display screen controlled by the computer driving simulation program operating on the hardware platform and displaying the output of the program. In this manner, the display may include elements of the output of the vehicle such as simulated speed, fuel level and the like, or preferably, as outlined above, these outputs may be replayed to the vehicle displays.

The present invention also includes a steering wheel in communication with the computer driving simulation program such that movements of the steering wheel are reflected by a simulated vehicle displayed on the visual display means. As stated above, the steering wheel and speed control are typically the minimum input controls that are provided in the vehicle cabin for the user. Normally the input 00 mechanisms will include a gear shift input and a plurality of pedals provided to O provide input to the computer driving simulation program as an accelerator and a brake, and optionally a clutch.

As outlined above, the steering wheel in initial embodiments of the simulator may be a computer input steering wheel of a type which is conventionally available or for a more realistic simulator, the production car steering wheel will be retained and connected to the computer driving simulation program. In a similar manner, the pedals may be computer input pedals or the production car pedals suitably connected to the computer driving simulation program as the gear shift controls may be.

A storage compartment may be provided at the rear of the simulator in order to store equipment such as power supply or connection and replacement parts.

The simulator of the present invention is therefore heavily based on the production car body with interior and exterior styling and features but appropriately connected to the computer driving simulation program for enhanced realism.

Brief Description of the Drawings.

Various embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a vehicle driving simulator according to an aspect of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an angled view from behind the driver side door with the door open of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view from the front of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 1 with the windscreen and visual display means removed.

Figure 4 is an angled view from behind the driver side door with the door open of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 1 with the windscreen and visual display means removed.

Figure 5 is a view from the side of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 1 with the door open.

Figure 6 is an angled view from behind of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 1 with the door open.

Figure 7 is an angled view from the reverse side of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 6.

00 Figure 8 is a close-up view of the storage compartment provided at the O rear of the vehicle driving simulator illustrated in Figure 1.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, a computer implemented vehicle driving simulator is provided.

The vehicle driving simulator 10 as illustrated in the Figures includes a computer-implemented vehicle driving simulation program including at least one simulated vehicle, a production car body adjusted to leave both the exterior and interior of the driver side cabin intact, a visual display unit 11 located in a portion of the windscreen opening 13, and a steering wheel 12 in communication with the computer driving simulation program such that movements of the steering wheel 12 are reflected by a simulated vehicle displayed on the visual display unit 11.

The simulator 10 is designed for a user to sit in the simulator 10 and be completely enclosed in the driver side cabin of a production car body. The simulator is adapted to allow relocation such that the invention can be provided as a mobile device, requiring only a power supply in order to operate. The simulator is designed to simulate a driving experience as the only inputs when a user is driving a car are visual cues mainly through the windscreen and on a secondary level through the window, feedback from the vehicle's controls and vibrations from the vehicle, namely a combination of engine vibration and vibration from the surface over which the vehicle is travelling.

The invention includes a production car body as illustrate in Figure 1 in particular adjusted to leave both the exterior and interior of the driver side cabin 14 intact. Using an actual production car as a base for the simulator provides a cabin which is most similar to maintain realism of the simulator.

The production car of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is a utility vehicle normally having a rear tray which simplifies the adaptation of the vehicle.

The production car simulator 10 of the illustrated embodiment has the engine and drive train removed as well as all of the components of the vehicle suspension and wheels. Indeed, in forming the simulator from the production car N body, the front of the vehicle is removed from adjacent the rear firewall in the engine compartment, and the rear tray of the vehicle will also typically be removed from just 00 behind the rear of the cabin 14. Also, the passenger side of the vehicle is removed and O a wall 15 provided to enclose the driver side cabin. As illustrated in Figures 4 and Sin particular, the wall 15 is provided on the passenger side of the centre console 16 of Othe vehicle as the gear shift is located through the centre console 16.

Adapting a vehicle in this manner leaves the driver side of the dash intact including indicator dials. Indeed the cabin 14 is essentially unchanged from the production car cabin. Ideally, the controls within the cabin will be retained and simply connected to provide inputs and outputs for the computer simulation program. For example, the standard steering wheel 12, gear shift and pedals 18 can be retained but connected to appropriate sensors to provide inputs into the computer simulation program and the dash display retained and adapted to receive outputs from the computer simulation program in order to display simulated vehicle speed, simulated engine RPM's and other ancillaries such as fuel and oil levels usually through connection to the existing vehicle electric system.

In some simpler simulator devices such as that illustrated, the existing steering wheel may be replaced by a similar computer gaming input steering wheel 12 and gamning pedals 18.

Typically, other elements of the vehicle driver side cabin are retained such as the production car vehicle seat, although the production seat may be replaced with a "racing" seat 19 with appropriate harness, the production car door for ingress and egress from the simulator. The seat is moveable in a manner similar to a conventional production car and typically, the original seat moving and locking means may be utilised for this purpose.

The simulator 10p of the present invention includes a visual display unit 11 located in a portion of the windscreen opening 13. As a part of the alterations made to the production car body, the windscreen is removed and at least partially replaced with a visual display unit 11 on which the computer simulator program will display the visual component of the simulated driving experience. Normally, the visual display unit 11 is a high quality display to enhance realism of the simulation, such as a plasma display or a liquid crystal display.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the screen of the visual display unit is Noriented substantially vertically and mounted relative to a lower edge of the windscreen opening 13. This requires that side and top closure panels 20 be provided 00 to enclose the screen. These panels 20 are darkened to limit possibly distractions and O enhancing the viewability of the visual display. The panels are manufactured of Splastic in the illustrated embodiment. The rear window 21 of the vehicle cabin will Salso be darkened.

The present invention also includes a steering wheel 12 in communication with the computer driving simulation program such that movements of the steering wheel 12 are reflected by a simulated vehicle displayed on the visual display unit 11. As stated above, the steering wheel and speed control are typically the minimum input controls that are provided in the vehicle cabin for the user. Normally the input mechanisms will include a gear shift input and a plurality of pedals 18 provided to provide input to the computer driving simulation program as an accelerator and a brake, and optionally a clutch.

A storage compartment 22 is provided at the rear of the simulator 10 in order to store equipment such as power supply or connection and replacement parts.

In the present specification and claims (if any), the word "comprising" and its derivatives including "comprises" and "comprise" include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an 11 embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all Sreferring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be 00 understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications Swithin the proper scope of the appended claims (if any) appropriately interpreted by

C

10 those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A vehicle driving simulator including a computer-implemented vehicle driving Ssimulation program including at least one simulated vehicle, a production car body adjusted to leave both the exterior and interior of the driver side cabin intact, a visual display means located in a portion of the windscreen opening, 00 and a steering wheel in communication with the computer driving simulation program such that movements of the steering wheel are reflected by a simulated vehicle displayed on the visual display means.

2. A vehicle driving simulator according to claim 1 and adapted for a user to sit S 10 in the simulator and be completely enclosed in the driver side cabin of the production car body.

3. A vehicle driving simulator according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the simulator is adapted to allow relocation as a mobile device.

4. A vehicle driving simulator according to any one of the preceding claims wherein in forming the simulator from the production car body, the front of the vehicle is removed from adjacent a rear firewall in the engine compartment, and the rear of the vehicle is removed from behind the rear of the cabin. A vehicle driving simulator according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the simulator is formed from a production car body to correspond to an internal characteristics of a race car.