Modelling cyclists’ comfort zones from obstacle avoidance manoeuvres

Journal Article (2020)
Author(s)

Oliver Lee (TU Delft - Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)

Alexander Rasch (Chalmers University of Technology)

Arend Schwab (TU Delft - Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)

Marco Dozza (Chalmers University of Technology)

Research Group
Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control
Copyright
© 2020 O.Z.A. Lee, Alexander Rasch, A.L. Schwab, Marco Dozza
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2020.105609
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2020
Language
English
Copyright
© 2020 O.Z.A. Lee, Alexander Rasch, A.L. Schwab, Marco Dozza
Research Group
Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control
Volume number
144
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

This paper introduces a framework for modelling the cyclist's comfort zone. Unlike the driver's comfort zone, little is known about the cyclist's. The framework draws on existing literature in cognitive science about driver behaviour to explain experimental results from cycling field trials, and the modelling of these results. We modelled braking and steering manoeuvres from field data of cyclists’ obstacle avoidance within their comfort zone. Results show that when cyclists avoided obstacles by braking, they kept a constant deceleration; as speed increased, they started to brake earlier, farther from the obstacle, maintaining an almost constant time to collision. When cyclists avoided obstacles by steering, they maintained a constant distance from the object, independent of speed. Overall, the higher the speed, the more the steering manoeuvres were temporally delayed compared to braking manoeuvres. We discuss these results and other similarities between cyclist and driver behaviour during obstacle avoidance. Implications for the design of acceptable active safety and infrastructure design are also addressed.