Assessing the Effectiveness of a Dynamic Driving Simulator for ADAS Development—A Back-to-Back Subjective Validation Study on Lateral Guidance Systems

Rapid developing driving simulator technologies enable the possibility of assisting the human-centered development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Autonomous Driving. It boosts the efficiency of functional testing and professional subjective assessment of the system under test and thus greatly shortens the development cycles of ADAS functions. Furthermore, standardized and transparent assessment procedures contribute to the robustness and transferability of the test results. However, the application of driving simulators in the practical development process is based upon the validity of the test results in the virtual environment. The aim of this study is to determine the subjective validity of a high-fidelity dynamic driving simulator. A back-to-back study was designed to subjectively evaluate two lateral guidance systems on an objectively validated simulator and in a real vehicle respectively. The results show that the professional drivers evaluate the system characteristics similarly in the aspects of driver interaction, perceived safety and functional performance as well as in most of their sub-aspects in the virtual and in the physical test environment and that absolute subjective validity can be established. Although the intervention intensity of the lane departure avoidance system and the general reproducibility of the lane keeping assist system show significant differences between the test environments, relative subjective validity can also be confirmed. In addition, the results of regression analysis reveal the influencing factors of driver’s subjective evaluation of the three main system characteristics and confirm the effectiveness of the evaluation methods.