Exploratory Investigation of Vibration Floor as Potential Collision Warning

This paper investigates the possibility of using the floor of a car as potential locus of vibratory collision warnings. Arrangements of three actuators were used to provide vibrating floor patterns. DC motors with eccentric mass and suspended on leaf springs were fixed longitudinally at the center of a metallic structure. The actuators can be activated independently to provide different haptic patterns with different possible amplitudes and temporal frequency parameters. Continuously activated patterns, provided by the simultaneous activation of the actuators can be suggested for high level urgency collision warning as they are considered to be mostly associated to unpleasant, urgent and intrusive judgments. Low level amplitude patterns can be proposed for the advice collision warning.