System analysis of a motorcycle simulator for research and education purposes

Abstract

This paper describes the system design of a motorcycle rider simulator enhanced by virtual reality for educational and research purposes. The primary motivation was to create a simulation environment for behavioural research of bike riders using eye tracking features to monitor a rider’s field of view in certain situations. In the future, it is envisioned to use additional sensors for human-in-the-loop behavioural simulations. For this purpose, the creation of a high-fidelity simulation is necessary. This comprises a physical component (simulator hardware including the mechanism that simulates the motorcycle dynamics during cornering) and a software component (virtual reality). The simulator is planned to be used in courses focused on vehicle dynamics modelling as a practical demonstrator. While on the simulator, students can verify their dynamic models of motorcycle behaviour on the hardware, which provides physical feedback so they can test the motorcycle dynamics themselves. In the first part of the paper, the idea and arguments for the development of a simulator are presented. A literature review describes the current motorcycle and traffic simulators which inspired the idea of the presented solution. The methodology is divided into two parts. The first part presents the specification of the requirements for the simulator in terms of its use for research. The second part presents the methodology for using the simulator for educational purposes. Furthermore, the system design of the simulator and examples of its use in the courses taught at the Department of Machine Design of the University of West Bohemia are presented. In the final discussion, other potential applications in educational activities are suggested.