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Citation
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Witt M, Raisch F, Götze M, Gülsen B. 27th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV); April 3-6, 2023; Abstract #: 23-0295-O, pp. 18p. Washington, DC USA: US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2023. |
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Abstract
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27th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV): Enhanced and Equitable Vehicle Safety for All: Toward the Next 50 Years
https://www-esv.nhtsa.dot.gov/Proceedings/27/27ESV-000295.pdf
Objective: Recent activities in the development of assisted and automated driving involve vivid discussions about the necessity to evaluate the interaction between the driver and the system, especially while using high performant SAE Level 2 functions (see SAE, 2016). The assessment of safety in use of these systems is fundamental and includes several methods that can be applied to evaluate the controllability of the systems, e.g., simulation, driving simulator studies, and realistic driving studies on test tracks or in real traffic. In early development stages, it is barely possible to assess the functions in real traffic. However, some research questions need to be addressed early and can be answered the most appropriate by studies in real traffic. Therefore, a method to simulate new SAE Level 2 and even Level 3 systems in test vehicles has been developed.
Method: A new method to assess driver behavior and controllability of system limits in real traffic is presented: By using assisted driving functions of series vehicles, higher assisted functions can be simulated in the user interface and additional functional features can be implemented, such as automated lane changes that can be triggered by a trained safety driver sitting on the passenger seat. Thereby, it is possible to assess fundamental Human Factors aspects, such as mode confusion, overreliance or overtrust, under highly realistic study conditions or even assess controllability of lateral steering errors in real traffic. A realistic driving study to assess controllability of such system limits while driving SAE Level 2 hands-free is presented.
Results: Simulating new SAE Level 2 functions by using special test vehicles and trained safety drivers enables researchers to evaluate the driver's interaction with these functions under controlled and very realistic conditions. The results of such studies can help to identify risks and, thereby, define appropriate measures to address and minimize them. Moreover, hypotheses about driver behavior can be tested and validated to support a safety-oriented development process. The results of the presented study on controllability of sudden steering errors show that attentive drivers are able to control system-detected as well as system-undetected lane drifts while driving SAE Level 2 hands-free. Differences in reaction times were significantly correlated with if the steering error occurred and an urgent warning was triggered or if the lane drift was undetected by the system and no warning was issued.
Conclusion: Evaluating driver behavior in real traffic while using SAE Level 2 systems is necessary to assess safety in use of these functions before introducing them into the market. Simulating new systems in series vehicles helps getting important insights into driver behavior while using such functions. System limits to be expected can be presented and controllability of the resulting situations can be assessed as well as driver reactions in terms of reaction times and quality of intervention.
Keywords: SAE Level 2 Hands-Free Driving, Safety in Use, Human Factors |