Hyundai Motors invited student teams from all over the world to propose and create innovative haptics solutions for the next generation vehicles at the Asia Haptics 2018 conference (On November 14-16). The TECIP Institute “Sant’Anna Haptics” team placed third at this international “Student Challenge in Automotive Haptics” focused on haptic technologies for driving assistance and their uses to enhance drivers’ safety.

Haptic feedbacks are deployed in cars to stimulate the driver’s fingers, foot, legs and torso. The system (Haptic Knob and Pedal) developed by the “Sant’Anna Haptics” research team is equipped with a vibration actuator providing tactile/kinesthetic feedback to notify drivers when it is time to shift gears or offering maneuvering support and guidance for specific driving tasks as parallel parking (especially in big cities, for beginner drivers).

Haptic feedbacks are mainly proposed to help drivers in the utilization of the fifth gear allowing significant reduction in fuel consumption and lower CO₂ emissions. The “Sant’Anna Haptics” team used a virtual overhead view and an “immersive” virtual vehicle path to fulfill the safety objective - the prevention of accidents using emergency haptic stimulation warnings (perceived by drivers more quickly than visual and audio feedback).

In Incheon, South Korea, at the Asia Haptics 2018 conference organized by Hyundai Motors, five teams were selected for grants covering the expenses to build prototypes, in addition to cash prizes. The “Sant’Anna Haptics” third-placed team performed a live presentation and question session with the judges.

Domenico Chiaradia and Antonio Di Guardo, PhD students and engineers have worked under the scientific supervision of Professor Antonio Frisoli. Their study titled “Haptic Gearshift Engagement Assistant: Haptic Knob and Pedal to Improve the Gearshift Engagement Maneuvers” showed results that can be applied to vehicles for improving the orientation performance when using a device augmented with tactile and kinesthetic feedback.