Driving
simulator air conditioning systems
Toshiba air conditioning – one for the LADS
In one of the most unusual air conditioning
installations that Darrel Birkett, Toshiba Distributor CDL’s
managing director, has been involved with, a single ducted
Toshiba Digital Inverter Split system has been installed in a
driving simulator cab at the LADS centre (Leeds Advanced Driving
Simulator) at the University of Leeds. The air conditioning unit
will make experiment conditions tolerable and realistic within
the new specialized movement cab of the simulator. The energy
efficient inverter controlled air conditioning system is
appropriately ‘hi-tech’.
Since it became operational in 1994, the Leeds Advanced Driving
Simulator (LADS) has been an essential element in much of the
driver behaviour and transport safety research work carried out
at the University of Leeds. The simulator allows research into
driver behaviour, road safety and intelligent transport systems
to be performed in accurately controlled laboratory conditions.
Prior to its decommissioning in October 2005, it was used in 25
major externally-funded projects with a combined total value of
nearly £3m. Development work is currently reaching completion to
upgrade the LADS facility to one of the most advanced worldwide
in a research environment.
The new LADS incorporates an eight degree of freedom motion
system. Lateral accelerations are simulated by sliding the whole
vehicle cab and dome configuration along a railed gantry.
Similarly, the whole gantry slides along tracks to create
longitudinal acceleration cues. The 10m long rails and tracks
allow 5m of effective travel in each direction.
The project claims a high degree of accuracy in reproducing
actual road surface travel conditions with bumps and bends
testing the driver effectively during important experiments.
Email: marketing.uk@toshiba-ac.com