Examination of Realism in a High-fidelity Tractor Driving Simulator

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Safety and Health
• Human Factors Engineering
• Occupational Safety

Background:

• Transportation incidents are the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the U.S., including the agricultural sector.
• Farm equipment crashes, particularly involving tractors, result in thousands of injuries and fatalities annually.
• Simulated driving environments offer a safe and cost-effective alternative for studying real-world driving scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the realism of a novel tractor driving simulator (miniSim).
• To assess the simulator's applicability for research on farm equipment operations and crash prevention.
• To gather operator feedback for future simulator improvements.

Main Methods:

• A high-fidelity tractor driving miniSim with realistic controls, screens, and sound was developed.
• Ninety-nine Midwestern farm equipment operators evaluated the simulator's realism using a seven-point Likert scale across four domains: appearance, user interface, control, and sound.
• Operators completed a survey assessing perceived realism and provided recommendations for improvement.

Main Results:

• Farm equipment operators rated the overall realism of the tractor miniSim favorably (average score >3 out of 6).
• The appearance domain received the highest average realism score (4.58), while the sound domain received the lowest (3.86).
• No significant differences in realism scores were found across operator characteristics.

Conclusions:

• The developed tractor miniSim is a viable tool for studying farm equipment operations and events leading to tractor-related crashes.
• Operator feedback indicated specific areas for improvement, such as steering wheel responsiveness and front tire visibility.
• Future research should incorporate suggested improvements to further validate the simulator for research and outreach purposes.