The capability of a variable stability vehicle to assume the directional control characteristics of a wide variety of passenger car, built by the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Inc. in a brief study of driver performance in a manoeuvring task. The study was part of a pilot program for evaluation of test methods and equipment for future and more extensive human factors evaluations. The variable stability vehicle was used to simulate three distinct types of passenger car direction control characteristics. Each of these configurations was driven by each of six different drivers through a narrow winding course defined by traffic control cones located on a flat road surface. The results of the investigation are presented in terms of the average driver performance with each vehicle configuration. Other areas of discussion concern technical problems that are encountered in a handling research program. Principal among these is the requirement for a method of describing directional control behaviour of passenger car vehicles with a minimum of parameters. Several alternatives are presented and discussed.
Abstract