An Analytical Approach to the Prediction of Handling Qualities of Vehicles With Advanced Steering Control System Using Multi-Input Driver Model

Abstract

This paper describes an analytical approach to predict the subjective rating on handling qualities of actively controlled vehicles. The approach was applied to the evaluation on handling qualities of 4 wheel steering vehicles. The validity of the approach is confirmed by comparison of the predicted results with test data. The essential feature of the approach is to use an objective function that takes into account three principal factors, i.e., the task performance, the driver’s mental workload, and his or her physical workload, to predict analytically the subjective ratings. The findings indicate that the predicted rating directly corresponds to the driver’s subjective ratings obtained through the proving ground test with a good correlation. [S0022-0434(00)00303-8]