Towards Manoeuver Negotiation: AutoNet2030 Project from a Car Maker Perspective

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Behavioural changes in drivers experiencing highly-automated vehicle control in varying traffic conditions

Previous research has indicated that high levels of vehicle automation can result in reduced driver situation awareness, but has also highlighted potential benefits of such future vehicle designs through enhanced safety and reduced driver workload. Well-designed automation allows drivers’ visual attention to be focused away from the roadway and toward secondary, in-vehicle tasks. Such tasks may be pleasant distractions from the monotony of system monitoring. This study was undertaken to investigate the impact of voluntary secondary task uptake on the system supervisory responsibilities of drivers experiencing highly-automated vehicle control. Independent factors of Automation Level (manual control, highly-automated) and Traffic Density (light, heavy) were manipulated in a repeated-measures experimental design. 49 drivers participated using a high-fidelity driving simulator that allowed drivers to see, hear and, crucially, feel the impact of their automated vehicle handling. Drivers experiencing automation tended to refrain from behaviours that required them to temporarily retake manual control, such as overtaking, resulting in an increased journey time. Automation improved safety margins in car following, however this was restricted to conditions of light surrounding traffic. Participants did indeed become more heavily involved with the in-vehicle entertainment tasks than they were in manual driving, affording less visual attention to the road ahead. This might suggest that drivers are happy to forgo their supervisory responsibilities in preference of a more entertaining highly-automated drive. However, they did demonstrate additional attention to the roadway in heavy traffic, implying that these responsibilities are taken more seriously as the supervisory demand of vehicle automation increases. These results may dampen some concerns over driver underload with vehicle automation, assuming vehicle manufacturers embrace the need for positive system feedback and drivers also fully appreciate their supervisory obligations in such future vehicle designs

Carico cognitivo in diverse condizioni di guida simulata

L'obiettivo del presente lavoro \ue8 di verificare se all'aumentare del carico cognitivo durante l'esecuzione di compiti di simulazione di guida vi \ue8 una conseguente variazione nella prestazione. Sono state testate 3 condizioni diverse con due compiti (primario e secondario), differenti per il tipo di richiesta manuale e visiva del compito primario. Non sono state trovate differenze significative tra condizioni riguardo n\ue9 al compito primario n\ue9 a quello secondario. Quindi sembra che all'aumentare del carico cognitivo non vi sia una diminuzione della prestazione. Va notato che l'esperimento \ue8 risultato complessivamente molto facile (solo il 9% di errori), quindi forse utilizzando situazioni pi\uf9 complesse e soggetti con un range di et\ue0 pi\uf9 ampio si potrebbero trovare risultati diversi