3D driving emulation system : b

Abstract

The remarkable improvement of computer technology has brought the recent trend of employing driving emulation system in driving-related research. Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) research is one of the hottest fields. However, those three- dimensional (3D) driving emulation systems in the market tailored for HMI Research could be either too expensive or not customized enough.

Therefore, this project aims to develop an in-house 3D driving emulation system for HMI research purpose from scratch. By constructing the 3D terrain, roads and buildings, a 3D world was created in Unity3D, the primary 3D environment engine in this project. The 3D world was rendered with proper texture with the aid of Blender, a 3D modeling software program. Moreover, a racing car was configured in the 3D world. The car motion was simulated by applying the real-world physics rules in the controlling script. Various triggered testing events such as passing pedestrians and overtaking vehicles, and Graphical User Interface were added in the scene also to serve its research purpose better. In the end, the driving emulation system is able to provide a 3D city-street driving experience and trigger testing events and scenarios as the HMI research may require.

At the end of the project, a set of mimic steering wheel and pedals was integrated in the system to provide a more life-like experience.

This report elaborates the system by its components and some sample scripts are attached.