Faculty members and graduate students from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are researching automotive technology that will eliminate the hazards of driving during inclement weather.

Drivers who brave the blistery winter weather of Buffalo face the danger of careening off the slippery roads at any moment — but researchers at UB are trying to make that threat a thing of the past.

Mechanical engineers at UB have been working on developing a new technology that will assist drivers in winter weather conditions.

The project, headed by Tarunraj Singh, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, used a driving simulator to develop driver assistive technology to help prevent a car from skidding off the road.

Roger Mayne, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Thenkurussi Kesavadas, associate professor of mechanical and space engineering, assisted in the project.

"One of the major achievements of this project was the simulation of a car driving down an icy road, with the rear brakes locked, making it easy for the car to spin out," Mayne said. "We were able to develop a strategy where we gave the driver an audio signal to prevent a spin out."

UB began the study approximately three years ago, after receiving the Honda Initiation Grant, a yearly sum the Honda Corporation awards to 10 groups across the country.

After completing the Honda project, Singh and Ann Bisantz, assistant professor of industrial engineering, received additional grant money from Veridian Corporation, to conduct further research.

According to Kesavadas, who is director of the Virtual Reality Lab, the driving simulator was invaluable to the research, because it was able to simulate different weather conditions and variables that affect driving, such as visibility and friction of the car on the road.

Singh said the driver used headphones in the simulator, and when he or she began to skid, a tone would sound in the left or right ear indicating to the driver which way to turn. The intensity of the signal would indicate how much to turn the wheel.

The researchers also experimented with visual cues to assist the driver. A light flashed on the right or left side of the dashboard as the car began to skid, indicating which way to turn the wheel. The color of the light indicated how much the driver had to turn the wheel.

According to Singh, the visual cues were far less successful than the audio, because in the event of extremely difficult driving conditions, drivers do not have time to look around.

Now that labs and simulators are fully equipped for winter driving, Mayne said the engineers will begin testing the technology on real cars in the near future.

"A practical implementation of this would be vibrating devices in the steering wheel," said Mayne.

"Sensors make decisions regarding what the drivers should be doing, and can detect problems such as wheels slipping and spinouts much faster than humans can," said Singh.

Singh said researchers did not need to utilize new technology to create these visual and audio cues, but can use standard sensors in the car that are already being used for some purpose, such as the car's anti-lock brake system.

Kesavadas said the virtual reality simulator itself consists of a driving track for the vehicle, and a completely three-dimensional driving range.

"The driving range is complete with 3D houses and cultural data such as road signs and buildings," he said.

The project was not only a collaboration of mechanical engineers, but graduate students also participated in the research.

Jae-Jun Kim, a mechanical engineering graduate student who worked on the project, said these advancements are a step in the right direction.

"Although more research should be done to implement this driving method, Buffalo is certainly a place which would not mind this new technology," stated Kim via e-mail.

According to Kim, the automobile's behavior is optimized for each driver.

"This technology would not only aid the driver to cope with bad weather conditions, but also read the behaviors of the driver to help their safety in the future," he stated.

Jessica Gyurics, a junior psychology major, said the driving cues would have helped her last winter in Buffalo.

"Last winter, my car was hit by another driver who skidded in the parking lot," said Gyurics. "These advancements would really help a driver's insurance costs."

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