A Basic Study for Active Steering Wheel System for Steering Burden Evaluation by Driving Position Focus on Driver’s Arm Size

• Published in: Vehicles Vol. 5; no. 3; pp. 846 - 858
• Main Authors: Uchino, Daigo, Kobayashi, Ikkei, Kuroda, Jumpei, Ogawa, Kazuki, Ikeda, Keigo, Kato, Taro, Endo, Ayato, Kato, Hideaki, Narita, Takayoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2023
• Subjects: active steering wheel system; Digital signal processors; Driving; Electric vehicles; Electrodes; Gear ratios; inverse kinematics; joint power; Muscle function; Pedestrians; Roads; steering muscle burden; Steering systems; Steering wheels; surface electromyogram; Two dimensional models; ultra-compact electric mobility vehicle; Wheels; Sydney New South Wales Australia; Australia; Japan
• DOI: 10.3390/vehicles5030046
• ISSN: 2624-8921

As automated driving has not yet been established, on narrow roads where there is no separation between pedestrians and vehicles, it is essential to switch to manual driving. However, when the driver turns the steering wheel from one hand to another on narrow roads, it causes steering burdens and operational errors if the steering feel or burden is not proper. Thus, this study aims to construct an active steering wheel system that provides an appropriate steering feel or burden by controlling the steering reaction torque, driving position and steering gear ratio for each driver. In this paper, we focused on and examined the driving position among these. A two-dimensional steering model that considers the size of the arms for each driver was established to evaluate steering burden. In addition, a basic study was conducted on the appropriate driving position. Then, based on the joint movements and angles calculation, the appropriate driving position that considers the size of the arms was studied by evaluating the joint power. As a result, it was found that if the steering wheel position is too close to the driver, the amount of joint movement increases, and if it is too far away, the joint movement decreases. Therefore, it was found that the appropriate steering wheel position for each driver’s arm length can be considered by using the joint power.