Training in the operation of moving vehicles is provided by an operating station comprising a steering wheel and a television monitor screen placed in front of the trainee driver. Theoretical steering control operations performed by a model driver on a previously recorded moving road landscape are used for producing the images of the road landscape as it moves in front of the trainee driver's control station. Steering errors made by the trainee driver are determined by comparison between the steering control operations performed by the trainee driver and the previously recorded model-driver steering control operations. Displacement of the images with respect to the television monitor screen is produced as a function of the trainee driver' s steering errors.

A tool for removing a transmission pump assembly from within an automatic transmission The tool includes an adjustable driver subassembly for applying torque to a central stator shaft of an automatic transmission, and a pump tool housing includes a plurality of pump tool halves adapted to be grippingly champed about the exterior of transmission pump reaction shafts of various diameters A pump tool housing formed of two pump tool halves, preferably made of aluminum, is secured to the outside surface of the transmission pump reaction shaft by two bolt and nut assemblies. The bolt and nut assemblies are tightened to squeeze the pump tool halves onto the exterior of the transmission pump reaction shaft so that the transmission pump can be pulled centrally off of the transmission stator shaft by torque applied to the stator shaft from a drive bolt threadedly secured to the pump tool halves.

A driving simulator for a video game is disclosed. It includes an apparatus and method for moving the visual display of the dashboard relative to the visual display of the outside scene by horizontal scrolling when the car is being turned. A model processor calculates an acceleration vector acting on the drivers head based upon conditions affecting the vehicle such as acceleration during turns. This acceleration vector is scaled and converted to an integer from floating point. The integer value is then digitally low pass filtered to eliminate the graininess of the discrete nature of the process. Finally two routines are called which use the integer data to calculate where the dash, mirror and cab sidepost are to be displayed in the scene of the simulated environment displayed to the driver. Another routine is then called to load the appropriate data into the hardware which performs the scrolling.

A driver training system for a user of a simulated vehicle. The system includes input devices for controlling the simulated vehicle, a video display having three-dimensional graphics, modeling software for determining position information based on the input devices, and recursive training software to display a previous route through an environment simultaneously with a present route through the environment. The user then incrementally and recursively maximizes parameters associated with vehicle operation skill. The driver training system may be embodied as an arcade game.

An apparatus for creating a realistic feel for a simulated gearshift, comprising a simulated gearshift for a simulated transmission in a simulated vehicle and having a gearshift lever and a simulated shift pattern for simulating the look and movements through an actual shift pattern of an actual gearshift in a vehicle. A pivoting mechanism allows the gearshift lever to pivot about at least two axes. An electrically operable clutch receives a control signal controlling the amount of force applied to the pivoting mechanism to cause resistance to movement by said shift lever along at one of the axes. A positional sensor array generates a signal from which the position of the shift lever in the simulated gearshift pattern may be ascertained. A strain gauge coupled to the gearshift lever senses the degree of strain in the gearshift lever and generates a signal telling whether an operator is pulling or pushing on the gearshift lever and in what direction. A control computer is coupled to the strain gauge and controls the operation of the clutch to provide a realistic feel.