PhD Studentship available from October 2017
Steering torque feedback to the driver of
conventional and automated vehicles Steering torque feedback, or steering feel, is an important
aspect of a vehicle’s dynamic behaviour. It influences the ability of the
driver to control a vehicle accurately and safely, and also affects the driver's
subjective assessment of a vehicle's dynamic qualities. Despite the
significance of steering feel there is very little theoretical understanding of
its role. Consequently this aspect of vehicle development is time consuming and
expensive. Although a trend in vehicle development is towards
automation of steering control, most vehicle manufacturers acknowledge that the
human driver is likely retain a role in controlling the vehicle for at least
part of its operating cycle. The role of steering feel may become even more
significant (than in a conventional vehicle) during the transition between
automatic control and human control. The aim of the project is to reduce vehicle development
costs and improve vehicle performance and safety by measuring, understanding
and modelling a driver's response to steering torque feedback. The project will
build upon previous work in the Driver-Vehicle Dynamics group on neuromuscular dynamics, game-theoretical models of driver-vehicle interaction,
and sensory perception. The main hypothesis is that a human driver learns an
internal mental model of the steering and vehicle dynamics and that this
internal model is used for sensing and controlling the vehicle. Driving
simulator experiments will be devised and performed to identify the extent to
which the driver learns an accurate internal model of the vehicle and steering
dynamics. It is postulated that the driver will have difficulty obtaining an
accurate model if the vehicle and steering system dynamics are high-order,
nonlinear, or time varying, all of which may be characteristics of a real conventional
or automated vehicle. The outcomes of the project are expected to be: a validated
driver model accounting for steering torque feedback; metrics for the quality
of steering feel; and guidelines for the design of steering torque feedback in
conventional and automated vehicles. The studentship provides fees and approx £20k annual tax-free maintenance award for 'home' students, including a £6k top-up from the industry sponsor. Please contact David Cole (djc13 at cam.ac.uk) for funding conditions or any other enquiries about the project. Applicants
should have (or expect to obtain by the start date) at least a good 2.1 degree
(and preferably a Masters degree) in an Engineering or a related subject. Applications
should be submitted via the University of Cambridge Graduate Admissions web
pages http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/gradadmissions/prospec/apply/,
with Dr David Cole identified as the potential supervisor
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