G8-1　A Study of the Effect of Steering Force Characteristics on Steering Feel

Abstract

Many studies indicate that steering force characteristics influence steering feel and driver-vehicle closed-loop response. This study investigated the influence of steering force characteristics for ordinary drivers who drive by commuting, leisure or shopping, not professional test drivers, using a stationary-type driving simulator. Steering force characteristics were evaluated by changing the non-linearity of the steering angle-the steering torque and hysteresis without changing the vehicle response to the steering angle. The influence of these characteristics was evaluated based on the vehicle response, electromyography recording and subjective evaluation by the drivers. The electromyography results show that drivers can steer most smoothly when the steering force characteristics with moderate nonlinearity and hysteresis. However, some drivers in this study subjectively preferred the linear steering force property.