Modern Vehicle and Driver - Aspects of a Demanding Man-Machine-Interface

On the basis of three examples of Darmstadt University research some problems and future tasks of designing the man-vehicle-interface are described. The driving behavior of passenger car drivers in real traffic is analyzed and possibilities to protect the driver in critical driving situations are derived. A new device for measuring the coupling forces between motorcycles and drivers which are essential to motorcycle dynamics is presented. First results with this are discussed. Finally, research into emergency braking is described.

The research work was jointly conducted by the Department of Automotive Engineering (fzd) and the Institute of Ergonomics (IAD) of the Technical University of Darmstadt.