Enhancing the Teleoperator’s Situation Awareness by Human-Centered HMI Design

Teleoperation of vehicles has the potential to serve as an approach to reap off the benefits of automated driving already in the near future when fully automated vehicles (SAE level 5 [1]) will not yet be fully operable. In teleoperated driving, a human op-erator in a remote control center boosts passenger safety and service reliability by monitoring the vehicle and taking over control when disturbances occur that the vehicle automation’s skills cannot cope with by itself. A user-centered human-machine interface (HMI) for the teleoperation of highly automated shuttles (SAE 4) by a public transport control center was generated to integrate the vehicle’s automation and hu-man remote-operation. The HMI prototype was evaluated regarding its usability, sit-uation awareness (SA) [2], acceptance, and perceived workload by transport control center professionals as an online interview study [3, 4]. Even though results supported our HMI overall, especially regarding usability, acceptance, and workload, SA ratings did not differ significantly from the scale mean, suggesting a merely average degree of SA perceived by participants. SA was measured using the Situation Awareness Rating Technique Starting (SART), a subjective self-report measure. Setting out from this particular result, the following questions arose: (1) Why did the current HMI not provide sufficient SA to the participants? What improvements need to be made in order to do so? Specifically, how did the remote setup as an online interview study influence factors such as involvedness and immersion? (2) Is the SART questionnaire-based method suitable to measure SA in this setting? If not, are there more suitable approaches to measure SA in teleoperated driving? In order to answer the first cluster of questions, a systematic analysis of the first HMI prototype’s evaluation was conducted. Both improvement suggestions from participants and additional approaches to enhance key outcome variables regarding the HMI were compiled. These include theoretical frameworks such as the Out-of-the-Loop concept in automated driving [5] as well as empirical findings on the interplay of teleoperator, environment, and operation interface characteristics on the teleopera-tor’s SA [6]. This compilation will subsequently be used to refine the HMI and then re-validate it by conducting a second evaluation study, preferably on-site using a lab-based simulator teleoperation workstation with scenarios that typically occur in tele-operated driving. To address the second cluster of questions, methods to measure SA will be systematically reviewed with a focus on objective approaches, such as the query-based Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) [7] that Endsley specifically suggested for measuring SA in teleoperation [8]. Subsequently, the SA measurement method that suits the requirements of teleoperated driving best will be selected to evaluate the refined HMI. The objectives for the focus group at the German Human Factors Summer School derive from the two central questions stated above: (1) Soliciting advise for designing the second evaluation study at the simulator teleoperation workstation and (2) discuss-ing the construct situation awareness, its usefulness in the context my research, how to measure it and what other related constructs and approaches could be considered

Teleoperation of Highly Automated Vehicles in Public Transport: User-Centered Design of a Human-Machine Interface for Remote-Operation and Its Expert Usability Evaluation

Paving the way to future mobility, teleoperation of vehicles promises a reachable solution to effectively use the benefits of automated driving as long as fully automated vehicles (SAE 5) are not entirely feasible. Safety and reliability are assured by a human operator who remotely observes the vehicle and takes over control in cases of disturbances that exceed the vehicle automation’s skills. In order to integrate the vehicle’s automation and human remote-operation, we developed a novel user-centered human-machine interface (HMI) for teleoperation. It is tailored to the remote-operation of a highly automated shuttle (SAE 4) by a public transport control center and based on a systematic analysis of scenarios, of which detailed requirements were derived. Subsequently, a paper-pencil prototype was generated and refined until a click-dummy emerged. This click-dummy was evaluated by twelve control center professionals. The experts were presented the prototype in regular mode and were then asked to solve three scenarios with disturbances in the system. Using structured interview and questionnaire methodology, the prototype was evaluated regarding its usability, situation awareness, acceptance, and perceived workload. Results support our HMI design for teleoperation of a highly automated shuttle, especially regarding usability, acceptance, and workload. Participant ratings and comments indicated particularly high satisfaction with the interaction design to resolve disturbances and the presentation of camera images. Participants’ feedbacks provide valuable information for a refined HMI design as well as for further research

A Helping Human Hand: Relevant Scenarios for the Remote Operation of Highly Automated Vehicles in Public Transport

Remote operation bears the potential to roll out highly automated vehicles (AVs, SAE Level 4) more safely and quickly. Moreover, legal regulations on highly automated driving, e.g., the current law on highly automated driving (SAE Level 4) in Germany, permit a remote supervisor to monitor and intervene in driving operations remotely in lieu of a safety operator on board AVs. In order to derive requirements for safe and effective remote driving and remote assistance of AVs and to create suitable human-centered design solutions for human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that serve this purpose, a set of 74 core scenarios that are likely to occur in public transport AVs under remote operation was compiled. The scenarios were collected in several projects on the remote operation of AVs across a variety of contexts including interviews with and observations of control center staff, video analyses from naturalistic road events, and interviews with safety operators of AVs. A hierarchical system that is based on interactions of central actors was used to structure the scenarios. The set explicates relevant cases in remote operation, which may help improve workplaces for remote operation both by combatting human factors issues such as distraction and fatigue, and by boosting usability, user experience, trust, and acceptance. As the catalogue of scenarios is not exhaustive, scenarios may be added as knowledge of the remote operation of AVs progresses. Further research is needed to validate and adapt the scenarios to specific conceptualizations of remote operations

What if the Automation Fails? – A Classification of Scenarios in Teleoperated Driving

Teleoperated driving as an enabler has the potential to bridge the gap to fully automated driving (SAE Level 5 [13]) by monitoring and controlling remotely highly automated vehicles (AVs, SAE 4) whenever their automation fails to do so. To ensure safe and efficient teleoperation, a user-centered human-machine interface (HMI) considering use cases, scenarios, and sequences relevant in teleoperated driving needs to be designed. For this purpose, this paper presents as a grounding an extensive system to classify scenarios relevant to remote-controlled AVs from a control center perspective. It is based on four major categories pertaining to the vehicles, the teleoperation workstation, interaction partners, and the environment. The system will serve as a scaffolding to categorize a catalogue of more than 150 scenarios derived from several research projects and this system will be adapted in future research to fit an ever-broader range of scenarios in the teleoperation of AVs

The evolution of slate microfabrics during progressive accretion of foreland basin sediments

Here, we study slate microfabrics from the exhumed accretionary wedge of the central European Alps and focus on the development of foliation. High-resolution micrographs from novel BIB-SEM imaging and Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy are analysed with 2D auto-correlation functions to quantify the geometry and spacing of slate microfabrics along a metamorphic gradient covering the outer and inner wedge (200–330 °C). The sedimentary layering primarily controls the morphology of the slate microfabrics. However, from outer to inner wedge, a fabric evolution is observed where diagenetic foliations gradually transform to secondary continuous and spaced foliations. With increasing metamorphic grade, the amount of recrystallized phyllosilicate grains and their interconnectivity increase, as does clast/microlithon elongation (aspect ratios up to 11), while foliation spacing decreases to 230 °C and accommodates background strain in the inner wedge. The evolving microstructural anisotropy is interpreted to lead to strain weakening by structural softening and may provide preferential fluid pathways parallel to the foliation, enabling the dehydration of large rock volumes in accretionary sediment wedges undergoing prograde metamorphism

Microstructural characterization of natural fractures and faults in the Opalinus Clay: insights from a deep drilling campaign across central northern Switzerland

Abstract The Middle-Jurassic Opalinus Clay is the foreseen host rock for radioactive waste disposal in central northern Switzerland. An extensive drilling campaign aiming to characterize the argillaceous formation resulted in a comprehensive drill core data set. The rheologically weak Opalinus Clay is only mildly deformed compared to the over- and underlying rock units but shows a variety of natural fractures. While these structures are hydraulically indistinguishable from macroscopically non-deformed Opalinus Clay today, their analysis allows for a better understanding of the deformation behaviour in the geological past. Here, we present an overview of the different fracture and fault types recorded in the Opalinus Clay and a detailed microstructural characterization of veins—natural dilational fractures healed by secondary calcite and celestite mineralizations. Macroscopic drill core analysis revealed five different natural fracture types that encompass tension gashes of various orientations with respect to bedding and small-scale faults with displacements typically not exceeding the drill core diameter. The occurrence of different fault types generally fits well with the local tectonic setting of the different drilling sites and with respect to the neighbouring regional fault zones. The microstructural investigations of the various vein types revealed their often polyphase character. Fibrous bedding-parallel veins of presumable early age were found to be overprinted by secondary slickenfibres. The polyphase nature of fibrous bedding parallel veins and slickenfibres is supported by differing elemental compositions, pointing towards repeated fracturing and mineralization events. Direct dating of vein calcites with U–Pb was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, age constraints can be inferred from structural orientations and fault slip kinematics. Accordingly, some of the veins already formed during sediment compaction in Mesozoic times, others possibly relate to Early Cenozoic foreland uplift. The youngest veins are most likely related to Late Cenozoic regional tectonic events, such as the Jura fold-and-thrust belt to the south and the Hegau-Lake Constance Graben to the northeast of the study area. During these latest tectonic events, previously formed veins acted as rheologically stiff discontinuities in the otherwise comparably weak Opalinus Clay along which deformation of the rock formation was re-localized

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and forming monodominant vegetation stands due to traits such as robust size, rapid growth rate, and rhizomatic expansion. Increased nutrient inputs into wetlands and altered hydrologic regimes are among the principal anthropogenic drivers of Typha invasion. Typha is associated with a wide range of negative ecological impacts to wetland and agricultural systems, but also is linked with a variety of ecosystem services such as bioremediation and provisioning of biomass, as well as an assortment of traditional cultural uses. Numerous physical, chemical, and hydrologic control methods are used to manage invasive Typha, but results are inconsistent and multiple methods and repeated treatments often are required. While this review focuses on invasive Typha in North America, the literature cited comes from research on Typha and other invasive species from around the world. As such, many of the underlying concepts in this review are relevant to invasive species in other wetland ecosystems worldwide

Systematic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection of an ACE2-negative human airway cell

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) variants govern transmissibility, responsiveness to vaccination, and disease severity. In a screen for new models of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we identify human H522 lung adenocarcinoma cells as naturally permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection despite complete absence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression. Remarkably, H522 infection requires the E484D S variant; viruses expressing wild-type S are not infectious. Anti-S monoclonal antibodies differentially neutralize SARS-CoV-2 E484D S in H522 cells as compared to ACE2-expressing cells. Sera from vaccinated individuals block this alternative entry mechanism, whereas convalescent sera are less effective. Although the H522 receptor remains unknown, depletion of surface heparan sulfates block H522 infection. Temporally resolved transcriptomic and proteomic profiling reveal alterations in cell cycle and the antiviral host cell response, including MDA5-dependent activation of type I interferon signaling. These findings establish an alternative SARS-CoV-2 host cell receptor for the E484D SARS-CoV-2 variant, which may impact tropism of SARS-CoV-2 and consequently human disease pathogenesis