Tablet brings the driver back into the loop
The DLR institute for traffic safety in Braunschweig runs a number of test vehicles and simulators to evaluate and perfect highly automated riving situations. Under the aspects of safety, the driver of an automated vehicle represents the fall-back level. He has the possibility to give up his responsibility temporarily and pursue other activities but he must be able to take the control again. “Though the sensor technology is developing rapidly we must assume for the foreseeable future that there might always occur scenarios in which automated driving hits its limits”, explains professor Karsten Lemmer who leads the institute. Examples for situations the existing technology cannot handle are complex roadworks, snowfall or dense fog. An automated vehicle facing such situations has to return the task of driving timely and comfortably to the person in the driver’s seat.
The DLR researchers investigated the hand-over problem by means of a tablet computer and a driver who surfs the internet during the automated phase of his travel. In this context they focused on the how and when of handing back the control to the driver. “If, for example, the vehicle is approaching roadworks with very narrow lanes, the driver distraction through a mobile device can become a problem”, explains project leader Stephan Lapoehn. In detail, the driver has to stop working with the mobile device and adapt to the situation before he is able to take the control at the steering wheel. Already today, one in four drivers is distracted by using mobile devices while driving. This can have fatal consequences. Therefore, the question is how to bring back the driver into the loop in the fastest and most safe way?
In this context, the researchers connect the mobile device with the vehicle’s driver assistance system. In a simulator study they have developed an interaction strategy that early in a critical situation alerts the driver through an information on the mobile device’s display, blocks the tablet and brings back the driver into his tasks. To detect roadworks early, the vehicle uses floating car data (FCD) from mobile telecommunications networks as well as from car-to-x communications.
The information on the tablet display describes the imminent traffic issue and prompts the driver for the first time to take over the wheel. Along with this first warning, the system automatically reduces the vehicle’s speed according to the signs. In addition, the system displays which distance the vehicle can still cover until the critical situation has been reached. If the driver does not take over within 16 seconds, a second message is displayed on the tablet and also on the dashboard along with an audible signal. At this point in time, the driver has ten seconds to respond. The tablet is blocked for user inputs and, for music listeners, the sound output is switched off. If the driver still does not react, the vehicle automatically brakes and switches to a failsafe mode (which normally will mean that it pulls over and stops). “By displaying the warning signal directly on the tablet we make sure that the driver is alerted at the point his attention is focused. Thus, he has enough time to prepare for taking over”, explains Lapoehn.
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