Enormous amounts of information are collected. He is sitting in the operator’s room, where a number of computers document the way the test drivers’ drives, watches and positions him/herself on the road. “In a collision test, we can see what happens at the actual moment of impact – but what happens before that? How do we know that the active safety systems don’t distract the driver in a critical situation but instead actually help him or her? These are the types of question that are being investigated here,” explains Kristoffer Tagesson. Volvo Trucks is one of a number of partners within the transport industry that are conducting research in the simulator with a view to developing the world’s safest trucks.Ĭollision tests are excellent – they can be breath-taking to watch and they are also one of the most effective ways of testing truck capacity in a collision, but traffic safety is so much more than just smashed windows and windscreens and crumpled sheet metal.
The research that is being conducted is designed to develop safety for current and future vehicles. This driving simulator, which is owned by the Swedish research institute, VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute), is regarded as one of the most advanced in the world. It should sound and feel exactly as it does when you drive a truck on a normal road,” says Kristoffer Tagesson, an industrial PhD student at Volvo Trucks. “The basic idea behind the simulator is to create a feeling of reality. Nothing surprising there – except that everything that is heard, felt and seen is simulated by a computer! The vibrations from the uneven road surface can be clearly felt in the body. Its engine speed increases and the trees flash past the cab windows. The truck drives out after making a right-hand turn and accelerates along the straight stretch of road ahead. Volvo Connect – the interface to your digital services.
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