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Delhi-based StreetSmart has developed a customized vehicle mounted driving virtual simulator with built in driving test track to evaluate a driver’s skills and reactions including driver’s psychomotor skills-that is, reaction time taken, speed and distance judgement, and visual acuity.
Prashant Kapila, Director , Streetsmart info solutions, said the software here also incorporates typical Indian road conditions like potholes and bad roads, vehicles on the wrong side of the road, varying traffic density or a dog suddenly wandering on to the driver’s path.
The software of the simulator can be tweaked to convert it into any vehicle, from an Alto to an SUV. It can be done through changing the parameters of the simulator like the acceleration and deceleration characteristics as well as the RPM.
Meanwhile, the vehicle has all the usual fixtures like an accelerator, dipper light changers, horn, fuel indicator, brake pedal and clutch as well as gear shift, rear-view, side-view mirrors and other display like a regular car.
The three panels that display the road conditions with background, cover 270 degrees of vision, much like a car’s windscreen and helps in achieving high level of realism and closely replicates driving experiences in various conditions /hilly terrain and various weather conditions.
“The simulator may prove a catalyst for road safety in India as an automated driving test on simulator will be made mandatory soon and some states like Gujarat and Punjab have already done it to secure a permanent driving licence for a four-wheeler. Streetsmart Simulator is best suited to Regional Transport Offices (RTO’s), driving schools and cab fleet owners.
Further he added that RTOs which have constraint of driving test strip space can use this solution.
Currently Streetsmart has been installed in various RTO’s in Maharashtra and Uttar Pardesh and many more states have evinced interest in the simulator. The company experts will also impart training to RTO staff to train them to operate the simulator.
Many countries, including Japan, are already using such simulators to evaluate driving skills and award driver’s license accordingly. Currently such simulators are being imported, but this make in India simulator has been developed to suit to Indian rugged driving conditions.
