Automated Vehicles: Take-Over Request and System Prompt Evaluation

Abstract

As automated driving technology advances, the driver’s role continues to shift from active vehicle control to passive monitoring of the automated driving system and environment. This study comprised three experiments on controlled test tracks in mixed traffic that investigated driver interactions with prototype Level 2 and Level 3 partially automated driving systems. The study investigated which human-machine interface (HMI) characteristics are most effective at issuing a Take-Over Request (TOR) during the operation of a Level 2 automated driving system, how to prompt drivers to attend to the road when distracted during the operation of a Level 2 automated driving system (and whether these prompts are effective over time), and which HMI characteristics are most effective at issuing a TOR during the operation of a Level 3 automated driving system. In addition, participants’ trust in the automated driving system they experienced was gauged through multiple Likert-type surveys and an after-experience interview.