Caravan reversing simulator program

Oct 9, 2019
6
0
0
Visit site
Hi all

I'm currently working on a free-to-use driving simulator computer program which I'm hoping will be of some interest to novice caravan owners.

This program contains an animated tutorial which explains the principles involved in reversing a caravan (or any trailer) and a 3D driver simulator that allows you to practise these principles.

The simulator provides a birds-eye view, along with multiple rear mirror views of the reversing operation. It has an 'autopilot mode' that demonstrates how to reverse into areas such as gateways and parking spaces and a 'guidance mode' to help you try it for yourself.

I've had favourable reviews from the National Trailer and Towing Association (NTTA), the Swift Caravan Group and the Caravan and Camping Club and the program has been endorsed by IAM Roadsmart.

Now I'd like to ask for the help of all you experienced caravanners out there! I'm keen to get feedback from anyone who's interested but particularly those who already know how to reverse a caravan. It would be great to know what's good, what's bad and what might be improved.

If you're interested in taking a look you can find further details on my web site at http://www.reversemytrailer.co.uk/.

There are also two short demonstration videos that can be viewed on YouTube and will hopefully give you a flavour of what the program can do without having to download and install it.

The first shows the main features of the simulator, using the built-in QuickStart feature: https://youtu.be/y6l6sviT_I8

The second shows the reverse-manoeuvre tutorial feature: https://youtu.be/eIaEZgcwjl4

I hope you enjoy using it - and don't forget, it's FREE!.
 
Nov 16, 2015
10,394
2,788
40,935
Visit site
VanBlanc, unfortunatly I am using Android, your idea looks great an would give people a great insight to the skill of getting your caravan or trailer onto a spot.
What you might need is a function for , "Tired , stressed or those others are watching us . Mode.) Great ideat. Hope it works.
Good luck.
Hutch.
 
Jun 20, 2005
17,263
3,486
50,935
Visit site
I’m an old lag!
My mirrors have served me well for 40 years reversing.
I am tutoring my 36 year old son on reversing.

Sorry to say the practical hands on method cannot be beaten.
But fair play to your concept.
 
Nov 16, 2015
10,394
2,788
40,935
Visit site
Dustydog said:
I’m an old lag!
My mirrors have served me well for 40 years reversing.
I am tutoring my 36 year old son on reversing.

Sorry to say the practical hands on method cannot be beaten.
But fair play
 
Oct 9, 2019
6
0
0
Visit site
EH52ARH said:
VanBlanc, unfortunatly I am using Android, your idea looks great an would give people a great insight to the skill of getting your caravan or trailer onto a spot.
What you might need is a function for , "Tired , stressed or those others are watching us . Mode.) Great ideat. Hope it works.
Good luck.
Hutch.
Thanks Hutch. I have already set up 2 levels of difficulty- this sounds like about a level 5 or 6!
 
Oct 9, 2019
6
0
0
Visit site
Dustydog said:
I’m an old lag!
My mirrors have served me well for 40 years reversing.
I am tutoring my 36 year old son on reversing.

Sorry to say the practical hands on method cannot be beaten.
But fair play to your concept.

I totally agree, Dustydog - you can't beat hands on and I've tried to make that clear in the program introduction. I'm hoping people will use the program as a (fun!) learning aid.
 
Oct 12, 2013
3,037
4
0
Visit site
Like some have said it's a good idea for some but I prefer hands-on and doing it for real . There's a few times I've had no choice but to reverse in awkward positions and situations and you've just got to get on with it ! I do it on a regular basis with the bus and that's a lot different to reversing with the caravan as there's no pivot in the middle !!
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
Hello VanBlanc.

I have viewed the demonstration, and I’ll make the following comments.

I would not call it a simulator as it does not really replicate all the activities and factors a driver would really face, but it is a graphical demonstrator of how towed trailers react to towing and reversing.

It is useful to have graphic demonstrator as it can help to explain the process of reversing a trailer, to someone who may never have tried it or perhaps to someone who has tried but found it particularly difficult.

The graphic shows the important details of the wheel alignments and the loci they would follow, and it would be very easy to overload it with more detail, but I do feel its is missing one piece of information:- I think it might help to show a steering wheel between the front wheels, that rotates as the wheels turn but at say a 2:1 ratio so that small steering wheel inputs are more obvious.

The presentation of the narrative and its timing in relation to the graphic needs to be reconsidered.
The narrative is physically too far away from the action in the graphic, and the text size is too small to be read quickly and easily whilst swapping your attention from graphic to narrative or the other way round. When the viewer switches between panels the action or narrative has often moved on and does not necessarily make immediate sense.

We are more used television type subtitles, so reconsider positioning the narrative to the bottom of the graphic and if possible scroll the text or slow or hold the graphic so the viewer can relate the two.

I’d see this as having a particular use as a learning and used in conjunction with an instructor rather than a stand alone resource. And of course there is no substitute for real life experience.

I hope these comments may help you.
 
Sep 26, 2018
620
180
10,935
Visit site
One of the things that is difficult for some people is "spatial awareness" (for want of a better term) and the ability to visualise what you need to do with the tug to place the trailer in the place you want it to go... If you're male of a certain age who had Dinky/Corgi toys, playing at reversing artics on the floor was a great help. In the absence of that, this is a great help...
 
Oct 9, 2019
6
0
0
Visit site
ProfJohnL said:
Hello VanBlanc.

I have viewed the demonstration, and I’ll make the following comments.

I would not call it a simulator as it does not really replicate all the activities and factors a driver would really face, but it is a graphical demonstrator of how towed trailers react to towing and reversing.

It is useful to have graphic demonstrator as it can help to explain the process of reversing a trailer, to someone who may never have tried it or perhaps to someone who has tried but found it particularly difficult.

The graphic shows the important details of the wheel alignments and the loci they would follow, and it would be very easy to overload it with more detail, but I do feel its is missing one piece of information:- I think it might help to show a steering wheel between the front wheels, that rotates as the wheels turn but at say a 2:1 ratio so that small steering wheel inputs are more obvious.

The presentation of the narrative and its timing in relation to the graphic needs to be reconsidered.
The narrative is physically too far away from the action in the graphic, and the text size is too small to be read quickly and easily whilst swapping your attention from graphic to narrative or the other way round. When the viewer switches between panels the action or narrative has often moved on and does not necessarily make immediate sense.

We are more used television type subtitles, so reconsider positioning the narrative to the bottom of the graphic and if possible scroll the text or slow or hold the graphic so the viewer can relate the two.

I’d see this as having a particular use as a learning and used in conjunction with an instructor rather than a stand alone resource. And of course there is no substitute for real life experience.

I hope these comments may help you.

Thanks very much for your thoughts ProfJohnL.

I think, from your comments, you may only have looked at one or other of the demonstration video(s) and not the program itself, which is a user-controlled 3D driving simulator.

These videos are only intended to give a glimpse of what the program can do without the need to install anything - they are not supposed to be used as a stand-alone resource.

It's true that the narrative is difficult to follow in the videos. This is because they were deliberately speeded up to reduce the video running time. However, the program allows the speed of presentation to be controlled by the user, who can pause, continue, skip forward or back every animated sequence.
 
Oct 12, 2013
3,037
4
0
Visit site
Guzzilazz said:
One of the things that is difficult for some people is "spatial awareness" (for want of a better term) and the ability to visualise what you need to do with the tug to place the trailer in the place you want it to go... If you're male of a certain age who had Dinky/Corgi toys, playing at reversing artics on the floor was a great help. In the absence of that, this is a great help...

I think you've hit the nail on the head there I think everyone's problem will be spatial awareness trying to judge where they are or where they should be and where they need to be .
 
Sep 5, 2016
928
119
4,935
Visit site
I'm all for hands on trainig practicing reversing on a car park or some airfield but I'm also for simulator trainig which works for pilots, because of the LGV driver shortage there are now simulator courses to bring trainee drivers up to speed before they actually start a LGV course on the real thing,
 
Oct 9, 2019
6
0
0
Visit site
Craigyoung said:
Guzzilazz said:
One of the things that is difficult for some people is "spatial awareness" (for want of a better term) and the ability to visualise what you need to do with the tug to place the trailer in the place you want it to go... If you're male of a certain age who had Dinky/Corgi toys, playing at reversing artics on the floor was a great help. In the absence of that, this is a great help...

I think you've hit the nail on the head there I think everyone's problem will be spatial awareness trying to judge where they are or where they should be and where they need to be .

I agree. I'm hoping this program will help people visualise the whole reversing operation, and see the effects of the steering they apply from the relative safety of their computer keyboard!
 
Jun 26, 2017
445
16
10,685
Visit site
I haven’t seen the video or most of the comments, but after a cursory glance at the thread, there seems to be at least one key point that has been overlooked here ...

Although I am competent enough to reverse our van into most pitches with relative ease, I never, ever do so. That’s because I drive a manual car, towing a heavy van. In such circumstances, any reversing operation, especially one which involves a 90 degree shift of the complete outfit over a relatively short distance quickly results in a smell of burning clutch, due to the fact that reverse gear is geared much longer than it needs to be in every car I’ve ever driven.

If reverse was geared with the same ratio as first then I would definitely reverse onto most pitches, but as it isn’t, when pitching up, I draw to a halt close to the pitch, unhitch and use the mover. Despite the grins from the onlookers who assume that I must be completely incompetent when it comes to reversing, it just isn’t worth the wear and tear to the clutch.

Of course, this issue doesn’t apply to those with slushboxes or more modern dual-clutch Automatic gearboxes, and so the video probably does have the potential to be useful to the masses moving forwards, and from the comments I’ve read it seems that it just needs a little tweaking.
 
Nov 11, 2009
20,096
6,131
50,935
Visit site
Icaru5 said:
I haven’t seen the video or most of the comments, but after a cursory glance at the thread, there seems to be at least one key point that has been overlooked here ...

Although I am competent enough to reverse our van into most pitches with relative ease, I never, ever do so. That’s because I drive a manual car, towing a heavy van. In such circumstances, any reversing operation, especially one which involves a 90 degree shift of the complete outfit over a relatively short distance quickly results in a smell of burning clutch, due to the fact that reverse gear is geared much longer than it needs to be in every car I’ve ever driven.

If reverse was geared with the same ratio as first then I would definitely reverse onto most pitches, but as it isn’t, when pitching up, I draw to a halt close to the pitch, unhitch and use the mover. Despite the grins from the onlookers who assume that I must be completely incompetent when it comes to reversing, it just isn’t worth the wear and tear to the clutch.

Of course, this issue doesn’t apply to those with slushboxes or more modern dual-clutch Automatic gearboxes, and so the video probably does have the potential to be useful to the masses moving forwards, and from the comments I’ve read it seems that it just needs a little tweaking.

It does affect Dual Clutch autos too as mostly they have reverse higher than first gear. While slow speed crawl in traffic or slow manoeuvre of a heavy trailer will result in clutch slippage. After all they are automated gearboxes without the benefit of a torque converter. So I do the same as you. Unhitch and use the mover. Cheaper than a gearbox overhaul.
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
Dustydog said:
Raywood said:
Not sure why but the original post will not come up when I open the thread.
Same here Ray.
I have noticed a lot of first posts seem to disappear.

This has been happening for some time, and seemed to start the same time that the last post in a thread seems to be repeated on a new page.

I have found the original post will come up if you click on the blue title of the thread in the address line just below your avatar. Edit Or at the bottom of the page
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts