European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Driver sits in a real vehicle above but minus the engine axles or Gearbox. Below Johannes Rosdol. Mercedes simulates Safe driving the control room is the Center of the comprehensive safety system. By a1len Cowan staff writer the Mercedes Benz 19c was out of control. It crossed the median line and slowed into a school bus. Normally this would have generated front Page reports of death and destruction. But not this or any other Day at the Mercedes Benz research Center in Berlin. This Accident occurred inside a computer hooked up to the 190 through the world s most sophisticated driving simulator. It s the Only one in the world said Johannes Rosdol the manager of the simulator program. We went around the world to look for one we could buy. We could t find one. So we came to the conclusion to build it  what Mercedes created is a $10 million video game so lifelike that Drivers feel they Murt Stop it before getting out. Yet this video game is More than just a toy. It is not run on quarters. It costs $1,720 an hour to operate. The folks at Mercedes think it s Worth every Penny. They believe it May save lives. At the least it will alter the automobile of the future and could radically change the Way people drive. They can do it All at the research Center where they can crash cars safely and cheaply and then Monitor the results by computer. They read printouts and Tell what systems failed and Why. They interview Drivers. This machine removes the obstacles to testing Rosdol said. We can create anything we  the options Are limitless and Rosdol is enthused about the simulator. This ingenious machine completely deceives the senses. If a Driver s senses perceive he s in a car on the Highway if everything feels and smells like a car on the Highway then his brain registers a car on the Highway and he acts accordingly. To create that deception Drivers sit in a real Mercedes absent the engine axles or Gearbox. Those parts Are replaced by gadgets that simulate forces affecting a car under any condition. That s done by a Host computer using two processors working simultaneously linked together for data Exchange. In turn it controls three satellite computers which simulate noises images and movements. The car must be turned on with a key and shifted into gear. It won t Start unless Drivers fasten their seat belts. Once moving the steering wheel vibrates on rough terrain. The car rocks Back and Forth on bumps. It sways going around curves. The brakes squeak the gears shift. All dashboard indicators work even the odometer. The Heater vents and radio also work. Engineers made it that Way because they wanted Drivers to feel like they were Riding in a real car. The computer creates Day or night any Type weather Road conditions and requisite noises. Wind who Shes by. Thunder claps and lightning bolts Fly on command. It can produce oncoming traffic pedestrians obstacles Trees houses and emergencies at the flick of a Joystick. The entire car or the cab of a truck sits inside an enclosed dome 24.2 feet in diameter and weighing 5.1 tons Rosdol said. Six Hydraulic arms support the dome. The arms move the dome and the car inside in any direction tilt or slant. Rapidly As when going Over potholes. Inside half the dome s inner Wall 180 degrees is covered with a spherical movie screen. On advice of optometrists the screen is positioned precisely 12 feet from the Driver s seat. A digital image projector is suspended above the car a unit of six video projectors producing a 180 degree color panoramic picture. The projector has 70,000 integrated circuits. The average color television set has five. The computer that controls the projector flashes the image made up of 1.57-million dots 50 limes a second. The computer needs 80 milliseconds to form the image. To comprehend that Speed Rosdol said imagine that the average Home computer would require 65 years to form one image. The dome houses 22 loudspeakers placed where the noise should come from in a real car. Sounds i stripes Magazine january 2,1336