Investigation of AV Operational Issues using Driving Simulator Equipment

Autonomous vehicle (AV) stakeholders continue to seek assurance of the safety performance of this new technology through ways that include AV testing on in-service roads, AV-dedicated road networks and AV test tracks. Driving simulation can be used to test AV scenarios in a safe environment. This project is using a driving simulator to address specific issues associated with AVs. The research is addressing five aspects associated with human take over from AV: (1) characterizing the level of risk in the driving environment, as a function of the traffic conditions, roadway design features, road environment conditions, and AV passenger attributes, (2) establishment of take-over warrants, that is, the given combinations of risk factors that will require take over, (3) take-over alerts, specifically, evaluating the efficacy of various alert alternatives: visual, auditory, tactile, and any combination of these, (4) assessing the propensity of an AV operator to take over the vehicle control, as a function of the nature of perceived risk and the prevailing levels of the risk factors (attributes of the driver, vehicle, the road design, and the road environment), (5) measuring and modeling the effective response time, in other words, the time taken for the operator to take over the vehicle (from the time of receipt of the AV’s alert to take over or the operator’s self-recognition of driving hazard without receiving alert) to the time the operator is in full control.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $75,000 CCAT; $75,000 Nanyang Tech
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747105

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Connected and Automated Transportation

  University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109
• Project Managers:

  Tucker-Thomas, Dawn

• Performing Organizations:

  Purdue University, Lyles School of Civil Engineering

  550 Stadium Mall Drive
  West Lafayette, IN  United States  47907
• Principal Investigators:

  Labi, Samuel

  Pitss, Brandon

• Start Date: 20190101
• Expected Completion Date: 20240229
• Actual Completion Date: 20240330
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicle handover; Autonomous vehicles; Simulation
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General); Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01742186
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Connected and Automated Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747105
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jun 10 2020 9:26AM