Design, feasibility and application of an instrumented vehicle

This project aimed to consider options for the selection of an appropriate instrumentation package to fulfil future research needs and the development of a research program for future years. This involved email and phone consultation with a number of organisations known to have instrumented vehicles or instrumented vehicle components. In addition, consultation via a survey was undertaken with key jurisdictional stakeholders (the Austroads Road Design Review Panel and the Austroads Traffic Management Review Panel) to determine priorities for future work. Based on the survey research, a future program of research for the use of an instrumented vehicle as a research tool to enhance the safety performance of road design and traffic engineering standards and practices was developed. This project has built upon the findings from two previous Austroads projects, a 2008 project ‘Future strategic road safety engineering research’ and a 2006 project ‘Scoping of future strategic road safety research: improving road safety engineering practice with the use of an instrumented vehicle’. One of the most effective ways to generate knowledge is through systematic investigation of driver behaviour in different road environments. It is also essential to understand how different types of vehicle are driven in these different environments. These issues can be tackled by a package of sensors, processors and storage, which can be installed in different types of vehicles, otherwise known as an instrumented vehicle.