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VICTOR : detailed description

Instrumented vehicle for the study of driver behaviour: Victor

Lescot's instrumented vehicle, Victor (Véhicule Instrumenté pour l'étude du ComporTement du cOnducteuR), is one of the means used by researchers to analyse driving behaviour by means of a simulation on an open road.
The vehicle used, a Peugeot 307 built in January 2005 with a manual gearbox, is a medium-sized vehicle that is quick to get to grips with. Commissioned in 2010, it has power steering and air conditioning. In addition to its standard equipment, it is fitted with a dual control system, which includes a replica of the three pedals with dual control of the indicators, available to the driving instructor who may be present for safety reasons. The vehicle's instrumentation has been designed to reflect the driver's activity, while being as non-intrusive as possible.

Various sensors and systems provide information on three key elements for studying driving activity: the driver, the vehicle and the environment, providing the following data:

  • driver activity: depression of the three pedals, actions on the indicators, gear lever, steering wheel and light control lever. Use of the cruise control and speed limiter is recorded using the CAN (Controller Area Network) multiplexed network.
  • vehicle dynamics: speed, 3-axis acceleration, angular velocity, distance travelled measured by odometer, GPS position of the vehicle.
  • driving environment: information on the position of targets or obstacles in front of the vehicle, measured using an ARS 300 radar to calculate TTC (Time To Collision). A CSF 210 camera, with a range of 200 m, glued to the windscreen, provides data for calculating lane position and indicating speed limit signs.

In addition to all these parameters, the vehicle is equipped with a set of miniature cameras designed to film particular scenes: the front view, the side view, the driver's face.... All this data is synchronised and time-stamped in a computer.

Thanks to a system of auxiliary batteries installed in the vehicle, it is possible to :

  • prepare an experiment and make the necessary adjustments with the engine switched off
  • have good operating autonomy

A supervision/control station has been installed at the rear of the vehicle to monitor the progress of the recordings during the experiment, and to enable the assistant to mark out the locations for the experiment and synchronise the video and the data collected.

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