Before driving the car on roads, you need to pass a certain number of training lessons and a driver license. A new kind of driving virtual simulator is being launched for drive learners. It provides a series of well-training lessons and prevents learners from driving mistakes in real car.
The simulator named DriveSim is cooperatively developed by a German company, KIT (Karlsrush Institute of Technology) and its Chinese corporation partners. DriveSim consists of a real modified vehicle, hardware and software configurations. The modified vehicle is without an engine but equipped with virtual system and artificial intelligence. "Modern vehicles are equipped with an internal network of actuators and sensors. Via this interface, a conventional vehicle can be turned into a driving simulator without changing its outer appearance," Professor Jivka Ovtcharova, Head of the KIT Institute for Information Management in Engineering, says.
Photo Credit: KIT, IMI
In order to provide close to reality simulation, the simulator has the same inner and outer appearance as a real car. A learner pressing the gas pedal or changing the gear can feel the feedback of road bumps and accelerations by a special force technology which is applied in pressurized air system. About the driver’s view, there is 3D artificial environment projected onto a wall in front of the simulator. When DriveSim is working, its artificial intelligent can give the driver correct instructions and assesse his or her driving behaviors. The driver also can be experiencing a different environment or condition set by software while driving. This advantage solves a problem that drive learners always practice driving in the same place with the same environment.
Driving simulation system is a potential trend of market. In China, driving schools are now experience a strong demand. "Around 30 million people in China obtain the driver's license every year. According to law, they have to pass a certain number of training lessons in the simulator," Ovtcharova points out. They can also solve the shortage of real instructors and offer more complete driving lessons to every leaner by adopting DriveSim.
News reference: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-virtual-instructor-close-to-reality-simulator.html