title: Motion sickness on tilting trains.
abstract: Trains that tilt on curves can go faster, but passengers complain of motion sickness. We studied the control signals and tilts to determine why this occurs and how to maintain speed while eliminating motion sickness. Accelerometers and gyros monitored train and passenger yaw and roll, and a survey evaluated motion sickness. The experimental train had 3 control configurations: an untilted mode, a reactive mode that detected curves from sensors on the front wheel set, and a predictive mode that determined curves from the train's position on the tracks. No motion sickness was induced in the untilted mode, but the train ran 21% slower than when it tilted 8° in either the reactive or predictive modes (113 vs. 137 km/h). Roll velocities rose and fell faster in the predictive than the reactive mode when entering and leaving turns (0.4 vs. 0.8 s for a 4°/s roll tilt, P<0.001). Concurrently, motion sickness was greater (P<0.001) in the reactive mode. We conclude that the slower rise in roll velocity during yaw rotations on entering and leaving curves had induced the motion sickness. Adequate synchronization of roll tilt with yaw velocity on curves will reduce motion sickness and improve passenger comfort on tilting trains.
authors.affiliation: Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Box 1135, 1 Gustav L. Levy Pl., New York, NY 10029, USA. bernard.cohen@mssm.edu
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Mingjia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ogorodnikov
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laurens
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Raphan
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Alexiou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Athanasios
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edmaier
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grossenbacher
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stadtmüller
authors.forename: Ueli
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Brugger
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Straumann
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D009041:Motion Sickness / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009068:Movement; D014186:Transportation