Stefano Marzani

A Distributed Embedded Control System for Agricultural Machines

This paper concerns the description of a distributed embedded control system for agricultural machines, as tractors and off-road vehicles. The distributed control system is based on the international standard ISO 11783, also known as ISOBUS standard. The paper describes the safety and system integrity analysis of a hybrid network for off-highway vehicles where ISOBUS and FlexRay protocols co-exist.

Design of Warning Delivery Strategies in Advanced Rider Assistance Systems

European statistics show that motorbikes road accidents are extremely high and the reduction of such accidents is one of the main concern for the European community. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are safety electronic systems used to assist the driver in avoiding risks and road accidents, by means of warnings sent before the situation becomes critical. The use of such systems in motorcycle context is currently lacking due to numerous variables that it is necessary to consider for making sure the riding. This paper presents an innovative research for the safety improvement of Powered-Two-Wheelers (PTW) by means of the development of effective and rider-friendly interfaces and interaction elements for the on-bike assistance systems. In particular, the paper presents the experimental results on comfort and safety aspects of two advanced rider assistance systems: the Frontal Collision Warning (FCW) and the Lane Change Support (LCS). The study starts from analyzing results of motorcycle simulator tests performed in 3D Virtual Reality environments which aim is to find recursive rider’s behavior patterns in FCW and LCS situations according to different multimodal type of warnings (visual, audio and haptic). Afterward, the paper presents three different machine learning models, Hidden Markov Models, Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks, that have been considered for simulating the riders’ behavior patterns according to the reaction time needful for avoiding a front collision. These simulation behavior models enabled to design a warning delivery strategy for apprising the rider of possible dangerous situations due to front collisions. Finally, the paper describes how this warning delivery strategy has been implemented in a HMI (Human Machine Interface) installed on motorbikes. This HMI is thought to offer an effective FCW system based on an understandable but, at the same time, discreet and unobtrusive rider-friendly solution.Copyright

Context-Dependent Force-Feedback Steering Wheel to Enhance Drivers' On-Road Performances

In this paper the topic of the augmented cognition applied to the driving task, and specifically to the steering maneuver, is discussed. We analyze how the presence of haptic feedback on the steering wheel could help drivers to perform a visually-guided task by providing relevant information like vehicle speed and trajectory. Starting from these considerations, a Context-Dependant Steering Wheel force feedback (CDSW) had been developed, able to provide to the driver the most suitable feeling of the vehicle dynamics according to the driven context. With a driving simulator the CSWD software had been tested twice and then compared with a traditional steering wheel.

SAFETY AND SYSTEM INTEGRITY OF ISOBUS APPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL MACHINE CONTROL SYSTEM (AMCS)

Abstract This paper concerns the safety and system integrity analysis of a typical ISOBUS implementation for the communication network of a distributed mechatronics system for agricultural machines. Despite ISOBUS, described by the international standard communication network, is standardized under the norm ISO11783, we will make an analytical overview of a hybrid network for off-highway vehicles where ISOBUS and FlexRay protocols co-exist. A functional analysis has been conducted and a methodology for a quantitative evaluation of the overall system (in terms of performance and reliability) is carried out. The experiments described here (including the timeframe for future works) take the move from the framework depicted by the regional-funded project Pro-Tract: a lab has been set up to investigate these items related to off-highway vehicles.

Designing a Control and Visualization System for Off-Highway Machinery According to the Adaptive Automation Paradigm

This paper aims at describing the requirements of an off-highway human-machine system able to recognize potential risky situations and consequently prevent them. The developed methodology is based on two techniques derived from the field of human factors studies, namely the Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) and the Function Allocation (FA), which have been integrated and revised to suit the specific domain of off-highway machinery. The paradigms of adaptive automation and persuasive technology will be followed in the design process. After the off-highway domain analysis a system aiming at improving operator and machine safety is presented. The information system extends the human intelligence monitoring the stability of the machine.

Mitigating accident risk in farm tractors

FEATURE AT A GLANCE: The complexity of on-board equipment for farm tractors has grown dramatically in recent years, leading to significant changes in the operators work situation. Today, most tractor functions are performed from inside the cabin, but little progress has been made toward reducing the risks associated with higher workloads. This article describes a methodology for designing a risk mitigation system for reducing rollover accidents. The methodology represents a combination of hierarchical task analysis and function allocation. Its implementation led to a final solution composed of visual and auditory displays and a joystick that gives force feedback in risky situations

Flexray and ISOBUS Integration for Off-Road Vehicles: New Standards Together for Safety and Effective Applications

This paper makes an analytical overview of a hybrid network for off-highway vehicles where ISOBUS and FlexRay protocols co-exist. A functional analysis has been conducted and a methodo logy for a quantitative evaluation of the overall system (in terms of performance and reliability) is carried out.

Virtual Fixtures for Secondary Tasks

The insertion of data in personal devices (e.g. mobile phones, GPS devices) tends to distract us from the primary task (e.g driving) that we are executing because of the necessity of deviating our visual attention to a secondary task. In this work we have tested the benefits introduced by the haptic feedback as a facility for a very common secondary tasks, namely the insertion of strings in an input device. Experiments demonstrate that the presence of virtual fixtures improves performances during input tasks and decreases the distraction of the user from the primary task.

Design of an adaptive feedback based steering wheel

This paper aims at describing the architectural model of an adaptive force-feedback for a By Wire steering wheel system. This solution uses a steering wheel to replicate the reactive torque law which allows the driver to complete a precise driving scenario or a task with the higher performances. Then, the steering wheel adapts the reactive torque to the driving scenario. Since the design of this system considers the driver performances, it is called Ergonomic Steer-By-Wire. Now a prototype version of the ESBW is connected on a professional driving simulator and several tests are going to be conducted in order to tune the system components. Adapting the force feedback to the driving scenario could be a solution for improving drivers safety and vehicle control.

Present and Future of Simulation Traffic Models

In transportation research, simulation technologies have acquired a huge relevance since they permit to reproduce, under controllable conditions, different scenarios with a growing degree of complexity. In this sense, a general trend can be anticipated here since it represents one of the backbone of this paper. The simulators of traffic scenario are enlarging the numbers of factors to be considered, from the sole link between vehicles and driving environment to a joint scenario in which drivers’ intentions, autonomous behaviours of different vehicles and adaptive technologies (providing ad-hoc reactions according to specific driving conditions) are all together considered and computed. Therefore, the more the complexity grows, the more the network of factors influencing the reliability of these scenarios becomes articulated.