Multi-Disciplinary Pedestrian-in-the-Loop Simulator

2015年，行人约占英国道路死亡人数的24%，重伤人数的22%（交通部，英国道路伤亡报告：2015年，年度报告）。最常见的记录因素是：“在行人死亡或受伤的事故中，59%的事故报告说行人没有正确地看。判断不出对方的路线和速度，是最典型的次要原因。在这种情况下，越来越多地使用自动驾驶汽车（AV）和新的城市预警系统，可以帮助监测和协助行人及其与车辆的互动，有可能大大减少道路死亡人数。然而，一个主要的问题是，自动驾驶汽车和警告系统的设计必须考虑到行人的能力和限制。该项目将开发一个新的行人实验室，以可重复的方式支持安全实验研究，其中可以研究与AV设计，警告系统设计和交叉口配置有关的各种变量。这些实验还可以研究各种人为因素的影响，包括年龄、视力和移动性。行人实验室（PEDSIM）将由虚拟现实（VR）模拟器组成，让参与者体验各种城市配置，并与新车辆和城市机器人进行互动。行人实验室将跟踪参与者在各种任务中的表现，以比较各种设计的有效性。PEDSIM在世界上独一无二的是其非常高的分辨率显示器与其大型步行环境相结合（9米乘4米），并将其与驾驶模拟器集成，以测试行人和驾驶员之间的互动。随着自动驾驶和自动驾驶汽车越来越接近部署，对其设计和影响的研究迅速增加。目前，EPSRC资助的几项研究可以立即利用PEDSIM的新研究能力。这些研究包括评估自动驾驶汽车和城市机器人与行人的合作互动解决方案的研究，以及测试各种照明条件及其对能见度、绊倒危险以及理解其他行人和车辆意图的影响的研究。

Pedestrians represented roughly 24% of road fatalities and 22% of the seriously injured in the UK in 2015 (Department for Transport, Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2015, Annual Report). The most commonly recorded factors were: "in accidents where a pedestrian was killed or injured; pedestrian failed to look properly was reported in 59 per cent of accidents. Failed to judge other person's path or speed was the most typical secondary cause." (DfT, 2015)In this context, the increased use of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and new urban warning systems that can help monitor and assist pedestrians and their interactions with vehicles has the potential to dramatically reduce road deaths. A major concern, however, is that the AVs and warning systems must be designed to take into account the capabilities and limitations of pedestrians. This project will develop a new pedestrian laboratory to support safe experimental research in a repeatable fashion in which a variety of variables with respect to AV design, warning system design, and intersection configuration can be studied. The experiments can also look at the impacts of a wide range of human factors including age, vision and mobility.The pedestrian laboratory (PEDSIM) will consist of a Virtual Reality (VR) simulator that will allow a participant to experience a variety of urban configurations and interact with new vehicles and urban robots. The pedestrian laboratory will track the participant's performance in a variety of tasks to compare the effectiveness of various designs.What makes the PEDSIM unique in the world is its very high resolution displays combined with its large walkable environment (9 metres by 4 metres) and its integration with driving simulators to test interactions between pedestrians and drivers.As automated and autonomous vehicles get closer to deployment, research into their design and impact has rapidly increased. There are several studies currently funded by the EPSRC that can take immediate advantage of the new research capabilities of the PEDSIM. These include research to evaluate solutions for cooperative interaction of automated vehicles and urban robots with pedestrians and research that will test various lighting conditions and its impact on visibility, trip hazards, and understanding intentions of other pedestrians and vehicles.