In many practical control tasks, human controllers (HC) can preview the trajectory they must follow in the near future. This paper investigates the effects of the length of previewed target trajectory, or preview time, on HC behavior in rate tracking tasks. To do so, a human-in-the-loop experiment was performed, consisting of a combined target-tracking and disturbance-rejection task. Between conditions the preview time was varied between 0, 0.1, 0.25 0.5 0.75 or 1 s, capturing the complete human control-behavioral adaptation from zero- to full-preview tasks, where the performance remains constant. The measurements were analyzed by fitting a HC model for preview tracking tasks to the data. Results show that optimal performance is attained when the displayed preview time is higher than 0.5 s. When the preview time increases, subjects exhibit more phase lead in their target response dynamics. They respond to a single point on the target ahead when the preview time is below 0.5 s and generally to two different points when more preview is displayed. As the model tightly fits to the measurement data, its validity is extended to different preview times

This paper investigates the importance of yaw and sway motion cues in curve driving simulation. While such motion cues are known to enhance simulation realism, their function in supporting realistic driver behavior in simulators is still largely unknown. A human-in-the-loop curve driving experiment was performed in the SIMONA Research Simulator at TU Delft, in which eight participants were asked to follow a winding road’s center-line, while being subject to wind disturbances. Four motion conditions were tested: 1) no motion, 2) yaw only, 3) sway only, and 4) both yaw and sway; each was tested with 5 m and 100 m road preview for correspondence with earlier work. Results show that visual road preview is essential for adequate road-following. Although the effects of yaw and sway cues are much smaller, sway motion feedback allows for improved disturbance-rejection performance, while yaw motion feedback results in reduced control activity. These distinctly different effects suggest that both motion cues are important for evoking realistic driving behavior in simulators.