According to Business Week:
Toyota's huge new driving simulator is intended to study
driving habits and reactions for the development of active safety technology
Toyota has
unveiled a huge driving simulator designed to recreate realistic driving
environments and further the analysis of driving habits and reactions for the
development of active safety technology.
The simulator consists of a real car positioned on a
mechanical platform inside a 7.1 meter (23.2 foot) dome. A tilt mechanism,
vibration apparatus and other devices manipulate the dome as the driver
operates the vehicle.
The dome itself, which acts as a giant 360-degree video
screen, can be moved via precision computer control around an area the
equivalent of four tennis courts, simulating a real driving experience that
includes a sense of speed, acceleration and riding comfort with sound effects
thrown in to complete the virtual driving experience.
Although it would be a great platform for testing the
latest version of Gran Turismo, Toyota plans to use the driving simulator to
analyze driving characteristics under such conditions as falling asleep at the
wheel and drowsiness, glancing from side to side and not checking that the road
is safe, fatigue or illness, as well as developing active safety technology for
effectively reducing the number of accidents. The long term goal is to make
cars that never crash.
The simulator is located at Toyota's Higashifuji
Technical Centre in Japan.
Driving Simulator Specifications:
- Dome size: Height: 4.5m; diameter: 7.1m
- Dome mobility: Max. 35m lengthways, 20m sideways
- Dome tilt: Max. 25 degrees
- Level of vibration: Max. variation of 50mm up or down
- Sensation of speed: Max. 0.5G
- Turntable rotation: Max. 330 degrees in either
direction