Haptic controls in cars for making driving more safe

• Main Authors: Asif, F., Vinayakamoorthy, J., Jing Ren, Green, M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Driver circuits; Eyes; Global Positioning System; Haptic interfaces; Imaging phantoms; Road safety; Safety devices; State feedback; Vehicles; Wheels
• DOI: 10.1109/ROBIO.2009.5420520

Modern vehicles carry GPS, music systems, sunroofs and a number of other electronic gadgets. Interaction with these devices while driving often takes the driver's eyes ¿Off the road¿ and raises safety concerns. We are proposing a new design of haptic controls which uses `sense of touch'. A peculiar set of distinguishable haptic feedback which links to a corresponding device allows the user to operate these devices through `sense of touch' and eliminate the reliance on visual interaction. This design will help to reduce driver's distraction as it will be installed on the steering wheel which allows easy access. A simulation has been done using a haptic interface i.e. desktop phantom to test the system and a prototype has been developed which can be installed in any vehicle. This prototype has been tested to work with limited devices, further development and enhancements can be made to incorporate more devices and other user's preferences. The main Objective of the current research is to integrate variable functionalities in a robust manner which will focus on driver's safety by ensuring a constant vision on the road. The distinguishable haptic feedback will act as a unique identification for a single device and driver will be able to change the state of such device by recognizing the haptic feedback.