ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the Iowa Driving Simulator (IDS) facility at the University of Iowa and examines the requirements for high-fidelity driving simulation. It aims to establishe a baseline for future simulator development by providing a description of simulators currently operating at the IDS facility. The IDS research staff at the Center for Computer-Aided Design provides support for a variety of human factors and vehicle performance studies. Integration of the IDS system required an evaluation of various system hardware components of the system, to determine an appropriate operating environment, and an evaluation of each subsystem for interface specification, computational, memory, and latency requirements. The IDS vehicle library currently provides representations of 125 unique automobile, truck, bus and motorcycle models. The IDS vehicle dynamics subsystem receives inputs from the operator through the vehicle controls. An IDS capabilities study, funded by the Federal Highway Administration, assessed the overall simulation performance of the Iowa Driving Simulator.
