Operator support in technical systems

Abstract

The idea, the complexity, and the acceptance of operator support in technical systems is explained by the example of driving a motor car. The subjective judgement of future driving aids were investigated in a driving simulator experiment. The new systems are the Heading Control (HC) device, which enables the car to follow the road boundary automatically, and the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), which measures the distance to the car ahead and keeps the correct safety distance automatically. In the experimental case of the HC system, a feed back was given to the driver by an artificial reverse moment in the steering wheel. Additionally, the human behaviour was investigated by using a conventional control element in connection with an Active Control Element (ACE), a joystick like control device, which feeds back the dynamic system states of speed and yaw angle velocity by changing the position of the stick. In connection with this ACE, the same feed back can be presented to the driver as in the case of the conventional control elements. The results of the experiment show the superiority of the ACE, although the implementations of the new aids HC and ACC are at present not very well accepted.