The National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

College of Engineering is among the largest ground vehicle

driving simulator Driving simulators are used for entertainment as well as in training of driver's education courses taught in educational institutions and private businesses. They are also used for research purposes in the area of human factors and medical rese ...

in the world along with

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

's driving simulator at Higashifuji Technical Center.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...

(NHTSA) owns the NADS-1 simulator, while the University of Iowa takes responsibility for operation and maintenance.

Mission

Make roads safer by researching the connection between humans and vehicles

Driving research

Research is done with both simulators and on-road vehicles. Funded by government and industry partners, their expertise includes: * Human factors * Distracted driving * Drowsy driving * Drugged driving * Connected and automated vehicles * Mobility * At-risk populations (older and novice drivers) * Simulation science * Crash biomechanics * Safety and crash data analysis

Simulators

NADS-1 simulator: One of the world’s most realistic driving simulators NADS-2 simulator: A fixed-base simulator with high-resolution graphics '
miniSim™
A low-cost PC-based portable simulator available for purchase The NADS-1 simulator consists of a dome with a vehicle cab inside. The vehicle is attached to a motorized turntable that allows the dome to rotate and simulate different driving conditions. 64 feet of longitudinal and lateral travel and 330 degrees of rotation are used to give motion cues to the driver inside. Different makes and models of car cabs can be utilized. The driving simulator was designed, developed and produced by MTS Systems Corporation of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The simulation runs using a software package called Real Time Recursive Dynamics (RTRD), as well as NADSdyna

submodules In mathematics, a module is a generalization of the notion of vector space in which the Field (mathematics), field of scalar (mathematics), scalars is replaced by a Ring (mathematics), ring. The concept of ''module'' generalizes also the notion ...

for specific vehicle specs.

On-road research vehicles

The National Advanced Driving Simulator faculty and staff also use a fleet of on-road, custom instrumented vehicles to conduct driving research, in addition to their suite of simulators: * Tesla Model S75D * Lincoln MKZ * Volvo XC90 * Toyota Camry XLE * Ford Transit shuttle bus

History

The National Advanced Driving Simulator was developed from 1996 through 2001 by the

(NHTSA) to conduct

human factors Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...

research on driver behavior. 1992 NHTSA selects the University of Iowa to house the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), which would become the most sophisticated research driving simulator in the world. 1994 The first automated driving simulations in the world are done at the University of Iowa. Forward collision warning and ACC systems are designed, developed, and tested for NHTSA. 1997 NADS begins building virtual replicas of military proving grounds, such as the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where the government tests military vehicles. 1998 Ground is broken for the new NADS facility. 1999 UI begins first drugged driving study: “Effects of Fexofenadine, Diphenhydramine, and Alcohol on Driving Performance.” 2001 (fall) NADS-1 is operational. The facility is operated on a self-sustaining basis by the UI. NHTSA owns the simulator while the UI takes responsibility for operation and maintenance. UI owns the building, land, and the software that runs the NADS-1. 2001 The first formal study done on the NADS-1 is a study on tire failure and loss of control. 2002 A wireless phone study is conducted—the first at NADS about driver distraction. 2003 NADS begins work with John Deere, and a tractor cab is created for use in the NADS-1 simulator. 2005 NADS builds a portable simulator for outreach to high school students, which eventually leads to the creation of the '
miniSim
'' program in 2009. 2006 * The NADS-2 simulator—the second simulator at NADS—is ready for business. * Based partially on research done at NADS, NHTSA mandates that all new vehicles must have electronic stability control. 2011 * The first cannabis study on driving performance is conducted at NADS. * The first on-road vehicle is purchased for NADS research, a Toyota Camry. 2013 NADS is awarded a grant that would grow to $11.2 million over eight years from the U.S. DOT to fund SAFER-SIM: Safety Research Using Simulation. 2015 '
MyCarDoesWhat.org
'' campaign launched to educate consumers about advanced driver assistance systems. 2016–2018 Automated vehicles are added to the NADS fleet: a Volvo XC90, Tesla Model S75D, and Lincoln MKZ. 2019 U.S. DOT awards NADS a $7 million grant for th
Automated Driving Systems for Rural America
project.

References

External links

* * {{coord, 41.7080, -91.6017, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title Driving simulators University of Iowa