Introduction
Located on the University of Iowa’s Research Park, the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) is committed to the goal of pursuing the state-of-the-art in driving simulation research and development. The NADS facility is home to the world’s most advanced driving simulator, the NADS-1. The NADS performs driving safety research for federal and state agencies and executes R&D contracts for private industry partners.
NADS is also at the forefront of conducting vehicle and safety research for the U.S. Department of Transportation and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Since 2004, NHTSA has funded over $5 million dollars worth of research at NADS. With its partnerships with NHTSA and other agencies, NADS has developed some of the most realistic vehicle driving simulations available anywhere in the world.
Based on its industry-leading driving simulation experience, NADS has recently announced the completion of the miniSim™ driving simulator. This is a PC-based driving simulator that harnesses the technology used in the more advanced NADS-1 simulator.
The NADS miniSim™ driving simulator is a highly flexible PC-based driving simulation system. It uses the same advanced technologies built into the more sophisticated large NADS simulators, at a fraction of the cost to build and operate, and is easy to customize for specific applications. The miniSim can be implemented in a range of simulators, ranging from a full-cab with projections screens to a desktop system with simple USB-based pedals and controls.
