A moving-base car-following automobile simulator

A moving-base car-following simulator was designed and constructed for studying the driver-vehicle system under various simulated highway conditions. The simulator consists of four primary components-- a moving-base cockpit, a model lead car on a variable-speed treadmill on which a two-lane road is continuously positioned, a closed-circuit television system, and a laboratory analog computer--which are described in detail. The results obtained in car-following studies using this simulator closely approximated results from corresponding highway experiments; thus, the simulator can be used to obtain valid data pertaining to the driver-vehicle system in such studies. However, the simulator is characterized by several disadvantages that limit the range of its applications. These disadvantages are discussed, and various highway situations that can be effectively studied are described.