“Achieving full autonomy in all possible road situations and weather conditions represents a major challenge. Highly autonomous road vehicles that offer fully autonomous driving some of the time are closer to market”
TRL’s Dr Nick Reed (left) handing over the keys of the Toyota Prius to GOBOTiX CEO Dr Ben Davis (right)
The first step will be for GOBOTiX to
install drive-by-wire systems to replace mechanical linkages and actuators for the steering and pedal controls with elec- tronic systems. These electronic systems provide the basis for advanced driver assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist. The prototype vehicle will enable col-
laborative research and development work to be undertaken into how driver behaviour adapts to the use of these sys- tems and the implications of the emerg- ing ISO26262 Functional Safety standard for road vehicles. This will also com- plement TRL’s ongoing work using its DigiSim driving simulator facilities to understand the impact of greater levels of vehicle automation on driver behaviour.
PARTIAL AUTOMATION In a fully autonomous road vehicle, ‘driver’ behaviour is irrelevant – the occu- pants of the vehicle play no part in oper- ating the vehicle. However, achieving full autonomy in all possible road situa- tions and weather conditions represents a major challenge. Highly autonomous road vehicles that offer fully autonomous driving some of the time (i.e. when con- ditions allow) are closer to market. Manufacturers and research organi-
sations are in an escalating competition to develop increasingly advanced driver assistance systems that potentially enable a
smartHIGHWAYS Vol 2 No 1
driver to disengage from the driving task and allow the vehicle to take the strain for some parts of a journey. This version of vehicle autonomy is not without issues, illustrated with a few examples. Firstly, a driver must understand
whether or not all the systems that are required for autonomous driving are working as expected. Secondly, the driver must understand how to deploy those systems and when they are operational. Thirdly and perhaps most critically, the driver must be able to reengage with the driving task when required in order to resume control of the vehicle safely. If the driver has disengaged from driving and is eating, using a smartphone or has even fallen asleep, how much warning must the driver be given before they are required to resume control and what for- mat should these warnings take? These questions have significant implications for the automation technology and its capability to predict how the traffic situation is likely to evolve. A further issue that has received
little consideration thus far is the extent to which the presence of automated vehicles will influence the drivers of older, unequipped (‘legacy’) vehicles. I have recently supervised a PhD under- taken by my colleague, Magali Gouy, at TRL on this issue. We demonstrated using the DigiCar driving simulator that in some circumstances the presence of
smarthighways.net
automated vehicles travelling at short following distances (as has been pro- posed to improve fuel efficiency) had a ‘contamination’ effect whereby drivers of legacy vehicles tended to choose signifi- cantly shorter following distances. As a result, they were at greater risk
in the event of a sudden requirement to stop. These secondary impacts of auton- omous vehicle deployment are certainly worthy of consideration to ensure their deployment is not met with resistance from other road users. For TRL, it is back to the future for
the development of autonomous vehi- cles. Research experience over the years has provided us with the knowledge that can help to ensure that their implementa- tion happens in a manner that brings the most benefit to road safety and to trans- portation as a whole. This time, equipped with a new set of research tools and fresh momentum behind the initiative, the challenges along the route to vehicle automation appear to be surmountable.
Dr Nick Reed is
Principal Human Factors Researcher at TRL
nreed@trl.co.uk
trl.co.uk
21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64