WO1998054685A1 - Method and establishment to supervise the handling of a vehicle and to secure the quality of a driver's education - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and to an establishment to supervise the handling of a vehicle and to secure the quality of a driver's education. The invention is characterized in for instance that the driver takes place on or in the vehicle, that instructions to start off an exercise will be given to the driver from a module recording inertia forces and having previously stored graphs of inertia forces being equal to different correctly performed manoeuvres being exercised with the vehicle, wherein a recorded graph of inertia forces is compared with stored graphs, whereafter a recorded difference will be treated in the memory/processor of said module and wherein the result causes an in advance programmed and with regard to the result suitable instruction to be communicated to the driver.

Description

Method and establishment to supervise the handling of a vehicle and to secure the quality of a drivers education

The present invention relates to a method and to an establishment to supervise the training of basic reflexes in handling a vehicle and to secure the quality of a drivers education, or more exactly to a method to supervise the combination driver/vehicle (simulator) at the training of basic moments of acting when driving a vehicle. This can be done both in reality and in virtuality, i.e using real self propelling vehicles, and using a virutal reality technique where a seat movable in three planes is used together with a VR- helmet as well.

One problem in the way we in the industialized world teach people to handle a vehicle is that it is too much intellectualized. The pure skill is obtained first after many miles out on the roads, i.e. as a risk among other road-users.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and an establishment to supervise the way of handling a vehicle when exercising and to give the opportunity to secure the quality of the drivers education.

According to the invention the teaching to a skilful driver is facilitated by an effective help for each driver to exercise different basic components which are of outmost importance to a safe driving of vehicles. It is a question of basic refex behaviours being trained, and preferably such reflex behaviours needed to be able to handle a vehicle on slippery roads. By doing as suggested according to this invention there is a basis to quality secure a drivers education when it comes to substantiate the basic skill and the ability to handle a vehicle.

To understand the importance of the reflexes both regaling to the skill to correctly be able to handle a vehicle and to raise the panic threshold, a short report on the role of the brain in connection herewith shall be given.

The primary object of the brain is to reproduce the surroundings it lives and acts in.

In the neural networks there have been developed an advanced system where the distributing properties of the energy, i. e. structures regarding the time and the space successfully can be treated. The synaptic patterns of the neural networks are shaped by attained knowledge, or by incoming information making new patterns, or are in accordance with patterns of informations already existing, and which are already stored in the memory. The right half of the brain has the ability to experience the formation generally or metaphorically. When the energies of the surroundings in the shape of impressions influence the senses, it is not the energy itself being led along the sensoric paths, but the time and space structure of the energy. This structure is an image of the distribution of the energy in time and space and forms the informative contents thereof- its value of neg- entropy.

The sense organs can be described as transformers of entropy, the primary task of which are to inform the brain about equilibrium disturbances in its sensoric fields, i.e. in its interface towards the outer surroundings. The interfaces comprise motoric elements as well, which means that we can understand the brain and the whole central neural system as a world for itself, which towards the outer world is restricted by a sensomotoric boundary layer (an interface). Thus this layer will record disturbances (disturbances of the equilibirum) caused by the energies of the surroundings. When the centra of the senses of the brain recognize the disturbances these will be obstructed by motoric activities in the muscles to restore the equilibirum. This is also the idea with the reflexes. Reflexes are uunconscious and can be trained to act when needed, e.g. when we are going to loose our balance. It can also be said that movements controlled by the will (pyramidalic) are embedded in unconscious (extrapyramidalic) position movements controlling the whole acting of the body and the extremities.

In fact one of the most important (distinguished) tasks of the brain is the ability to evaluate (not automatically reject) perhaps a little odd and deviating impressions or information, and to be able to cooperate to a sensible behaviour in new and surprising situations, i.e. to keep the panic away. This is done by training the basic behaviours. One such basic behaviour is the language, which by traing and with a self confidence with advantage can be used also in unexpected situations. During training of moments involving handling of (physical) risks, e.g. driving a vehicle, the intensity of the conciousness, i.e. the activity of the brain stem should be high to make the learning more effective. When this happens the experiences (the flow of information, often of a complex kind), for example during an initial exercise to drive on slippery ground, can be handled and put into a mental entirety. The introduction of the experiences into an entirety is nes- cessary for a correct understanding and to a later estimating of the experiences. Thus these will later be parts of an experience bank. This experience bank will be built up in an efficient way when the driver is motivated and has the full control, and is not afraid during the performing of the exercises. The brain of the driver must be a superior deciding organ when drivning a vehicle. This means that the brain should have well developed behaviour or reference patterns (experienced experiences) to, during its instant decisive process, be able to make a correct evaluating of information (see it in an entirety) and by reflexes choose the correct pattern of acting. When this happens the "correct signals" are sent to the hands and the feet, which means that the driver, in a critical narrow escape, do not panic and do not just accept the decree of fate and/or trust to the passive safety built into the vehicle. Instead the driver reacts instinctively correct. To succeed in this a fundamental reliance in ones own ability is of outmost importance.

An interesting mental phenomenon is that an awareness about an incapability will lower the panic threshold, i.e. the propability for a panic reaction will increase. This can manifest itself in such a way that a person who has experienced a situation, e.g. when driving on a slippery road, and not being sucessful in handling that, and afterwards not being trained to handle these situations, which out on the roads is combined with a deadly peril, will in fact tend to react primitively and in panic when said person later, in a similar situation - maybe just because of fear and stress - will be exposed to and experience said same situation.

Many of our reflex patterns are connected directely to the equilibrium sense in such a way that the brain, in a not conscious way, will recognize changes in positions and changes in the centre of gravity of our body, and will control the mobility and our reflexes or our automatic behaviours, making us able to safely move ourselves. Thus, especially in connection to vehicles the speed of reaction is of vital importance for how a close escape will end when it comes to the behaviour of the vehicle. It must not pass too long for the driver to reflex react upon a skidding tendens of the vehicle.

The equilibrium sense has a good capability to record a rotation, or in fact an angular acceleration in the horizontal plane. Changes in the garavity forces acting onto the body through the seat have also a great importance for how fast an accelerating or retarding movement of the vehicle can be experienced by the driver.

As a safe performing of a vehicle call for that the driver very early can record the inertia forces acting onto the vehicle, the contacting surface between the driver and the vehicle, i.e the drivers seat, must be correctly designed. Examples can be taken from sport cars and racing cars having ergonomically well designed and often individually adapted drivers seats to be able to mediate the movements of the vehicle to the driver.

By placing a driver in or onto a seat which in an outer casing has easily movable loose particles, e.g. plastic balls, and thereafter evacuate the air from said outer casing, an ideally formed drivers seat for each driver is obtained with an optimal support for the driver. This goes for two and four wheelers as well, but the rest of the specification will be just in connection to four wheelers.

Sideways directed ineratia forces acting on a vehicle/vehicle seat and onto a driver, which forces being brought about during low speeds, makes it possible to, without any risks, exercise driving on very slippery tracks as well, i.e during conditions when the vehicle almost all the time is slipping sideways or is just going to do so. This is especially the case when using VR technique, i.e. when the risks for damaging both the "vehicle" and the driver are completely eliminated. The exercises can also take place by driving a vehicle onto inclined, straight tracks and/or in curves being intentionally incorrectly banked. This last part will make the sideways directed inertia onto the vehicle, the drivers seat and onto the driver exaggerated compared to driving onto "normal" driving tracks. Hereby the existing friction grip between the road track and the vehicle will be overcome at a lower speed compared to if the road track is level or "correct" banked, which means that driving exercises with skidding vehicles can be performed in a realistic way at a safe and low speed. But most important is that it can begin to be practised when driving straight forward. The most important in this moment of exercise is the drives 's experience of a vehicle loosing its grip to the road and that this experience can takes place during secure and safe conditions. When the correct handling has once been trained during repeted exercises and with a full control by a correct reflex behaviour from the driver, a sound and natural confidence to ones own ability will follow. By having the drivers seat supported turnably in the ground plane a feeling of skidding can be increased, e.g. at the entrance of a curve when having the drivers seat performing a rotation, i.e. the driver is exposed to a slight increased angular acceleration compared to the rest of the vehicle and to the surroundings. This slight increase in angular acceleration will influence the sense of equilibrium and will due to practise develope a reflex behaviour to compensate using the steering wheel or the handlebars. This method shall be used with discretion and should perferably be used for drivers who have problems in recording or recognizing such an angular movement and/or D such sideways directed inertia forces acting onto the vehicle and which can portend a loosening of the road grip.

One possibility with the present invention is to use a simulator where the trainee during the prepatory moments of training, just as well on a^" slippery track and in low speed, gives the opportunity to follow as a passenger, wherein correct movements of the steering wheel and the pedals takes place, which movements being followed and experienced by the trainee. Such an exercise can be collectively, i.e. where several simulated driving places are used and having movable seats simulating the inertia forces and where the visual impressions will be given by pictures being projected onto a screen.

The faults in handling existing from an inexperienced driver are of different kinds, but many faults can be referred to as a motoric and psycho- motoric inability, and are on principle the same for most unexperienced drivers. This incapability is natural as a training in driving a vehicle has not happened for most of the drivers. By repeting several different basic exercises in a logical sequens and at the beginning on very slippery roads and during low speeds, and learn to correct the faults made, the self-reliance of the driver will increase and the learning will be faster and go more easily. After a surprisingly short time the driver will experience that the vehicle, in a given situation, will behave in an expected way, and at this moment the driver is prepared to start more advanced driving exercises with more impressions, i.e. with a larger amount of information to handle. This will work very well, provided that a self-reliance founded on a real skill to handle the vehicle has been established by the accomplished basic training.

The training and the exercises are choosen to call for a continous and gradually increased use of pervious experiences of the driver, and that training moments following eachother will be founded on earlier learned reflexes and behaviour patterns, to further strength these pervious learned patterns, and will created new patterns in connection hereto.

When necessary the driver can be returned to earlier basic training moments, to further exercise a coordination of the movements of the body and motorically secure these as reflexes. Thus one of the vital advantages with this training is to establish a reflex pattern of the driver warranting a high panic threshold, i.e. the reflex actuated manoeuvres of the driver will, dependent upon information recieved and dealt with, result in an intentional and wanted behaviour of the vehicle, i.e. the driver will to a very little extend be surprised by the behaviour of the vehicle, and thus risk to be struck by panic.

By the present invention it is possible to quality secure a drivers education by recording och substantiate the various kinds of training moments. This can be done by recording the performance of inertia forces during the various training moments and/or by video recordning the moments (perhaps with several cameras at the same time). Thus an image of the miming of the trainee is very unveiling when it comes to decide his or hers actual control of a situation. Also the real purpose of the driving teacher will be strongly changed compared with today. The essential role of the driving teacher will just be to take samples during the traing exercises going on, and when driving in a heavy traffic, and probably during the first highway driving in the dark.

According to the invention an interactive, computerized supervision system comprising means to compute information to continously compare the existing pattern of handling the controls at a specific exercise with memorized correct pattern of handling the controls and from the differences, if any between the patterns decide if the exercise is approved or not. As the exercises are basic and settled in advance and the speed is low, the deviations possible will be few and it is possible to add proposals for a repeting of earlier exercises in the memory of the computing system owing to the actual differences.

To as far as possible avoid that drivers with a low panic threshold are out in the traffic, it may according to the teaching of the present invention be possible to have a factual control of the ability to act automatically (with reflexes) when handling a vehicle, i.e. the basic drivers skill.

Thus it is possible to record the handling of the controls and the inertia forces in an exercise or a situation repeatedly provoked, e.g. when the vehicle is going to skid and compare this recorded pattern of handling the controls with a pattern recorded during a correctly warded off manoeuvre. Just as well as our physical body is working well during ceratin conditions (pulse, blood pressure, sedimentation reaction, sight and hearing, etc) and all these factors are able to record during a working period, also our mental preparedness and actual ability to handle a situation demanding a skill can be recorded during a training period with a vehicle or with the simulator. Then it is possible to prove a inability or an ability, and it should be easier to get an understadning before a scared or inable driver of the inappropiate and the hazardous to let this driver continue to drive his or her vehicle with a low panic threshold, and, with the demonstrative document as a basis propose a suitable traing program in an effort to raise or recreate a skill.

The figure shows a diagram of the panic threshold in relation to information pressure on the brain, where the curve A relates to a driver who drivs his vehicle only with the awake conciousness, i.e. without to trust any reflexes, curve B relates to a normal skilled driver who has a workning refex behaviour for normal situations, curve C relates to an experienced and very competent driver who has trained evasions actions and thus is capable to perform a moose test in practice, and where curve D relates to a driver who in a way has grown into his or hers vehicle and who have practised many "close escape situations", i.e. a driver who can drive and handle his or hers vehicle up to the limit.

When studying curve A it is shown that just a very small flow of information (bits/s) can be handled by the awake conciousness. Thus the conciousness is not fast at all and is neither intended nor suited to control the reflexes. When looking at curve B a threshold to be able to handle an information flow of 100 bits/s has been widely overcome, i.e. the driver has drilled reflex patterns when it comes to a normal handling of the vehicle. This driver do very well in the traffic as long as nothing surprisingly occurs, or a dangerous situation or an obstacle suddenly come to pass. An evasion action of the moose test type, i.e. a fast change of traffic lane twice in close succession can not be managed by a driver according to curve A or B. For these drivers all must be by the book and the vehicle must in all situations have a good grip to the road, i.e. not be skidding. Curve C relates to a driver who is aware of that practise makes perfect. He or she knows the vehicle and will test brake and registers changes in the friction coeefficient of the road. This driver will manage to handle both the moose test and slippery roads. At last the following addition can be made regarding the driver represented by curve D. This driver nerver stop driving his or hers vehicle, nor panic, but often see a way out from close escapes, and often can forestall that such situations occur.

The invention is not restricted to the applications mentioned above, but variants and modifications can be done within the scope according to the present claims below. E.g. a simulator shall be movable in three planes and an inclination to the left will simulate turning to the right, and an inclination backwards/forwards of the seat will represent acceleration and retardation, respectively.

Claims

1. Method to supervise the combination driver/vehicle (simulator) in training basic reflexes needed for a safe driving of a vehicle, characterized in to continously record information regarding the drivers handling of the controls of the vehicle at basic moments of training, to compare the recorded flow of information with a flow valid for a correct performed handling of the controls, wherein differences in actual handling of the controls and deviations, or a combination of deviations compared to a correct handling regarding degree and precence, are stored as models of concequenses in the memory of the computor and form the basis of a decision if a current exercise shall be approved or not, and to instruct the trainee to perform new exercises, or to repeat previous exercises.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that patterns of handling for a certain manoeuvre are stored and are presented in connection to movable pictures belonging to the manoeuvre and presented onto a screen or in a VR-helmet, and that the driver just is following the handling of the controls.

3. Establishment to instruct trainees in connection to learning of a reflex handling of a vehicle and to perform the method accordning to claim 1, and comprising; a vehicle or a simulator with a drivers seat having a possibility to be adjusted for an optimal drivers position for each trainee; means recording the handling of the controls and transmitting information to a computor module, in the momory of which consequense models for different combinations of driver and vehicle are stored; real or virtual means for recording inertia forces and used in real exercises with the vehicle/simulator, which means during a recording period continously register the inertia forces, especially in the horizontal plane during performing an exercise, characterized in that the consequense models in the memory of the computer contains stored graphs of inertia forces corresponding to correct performings of said exercises, the computer being programmed to compare recorded patterns of intertia forces, viruatal or real, with stored correct patterns, and wherein patterns of deviation between said two patterns are stored representing usual shortcomings in connection to the learning of handling a vehicle.

4. Method to create optimum conditions for a driver to notify changes in intertia forces through the vehicle seat arising from the movement of the vehicle, and to be used according to the method according to claim 1, characterized in that the driver takes place in or on a seat having an outer load-bearing layer of a certain thickness and containing particles being easily and mutally relocated, and that thereafter the air behind the layer is evacuated so that the seat formed by driver will get firm.

5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the stuffing of the drivers seat is dynamic in such a way that an inflating of the stuffing at the left or right side thereof is used to simulate a greater force of intertia compared with the actual force of inertia.

6. Method according to claim 4 och 5, characterized in that the drivers seat is turned in the horizontal plan to magnify the impression of the turning movement of the vehicle.