Coursework: Driving Simulator Study of SAE Level 3 Automated Vehicle Transition of Control (ToC) Events
Contents
1. Introduction:
Coursework for the module comprises a single component: a report, including analysis of numerical data, collected from a driving simulator study undertaken in 2019, examining how a Transition of Control (ToC) event in a SAR Level 3 autonomous vehicle may differ between ‘alert’ and ‘distracted’ driver conditions.
The coursework is due by 2pm on the 4th of March. Further details on submission may be found in the individual coursework sections below. The coursework should be submitted as a single document in Word or PDF format.
2 . Coursework Brief:
2.1 Introduction
In the coming decades, it is widely anticipated that partially or highly automated vehicles will be making an appearance on our streets and highways. Indeed, vehicles with level 1 and level 2 equipment on the SAE’s ‘Levels of Automation’ are already commercially available, and level 3 (or higher) prototype vehicles are already being tested in a number of locations worldwide.
At SAE level 2 the human driver is expected to be responsible for the vehicle and monitoring the driving environment at all times, even if the vehicle is operating in a limited automated driving mode. At SAE level 3, the vehicle may be both in complete control and actively monitoring the driving environment itself, but there is an expectation of immediate human intervention if an event outside of its Operational Design Domain (ODD) occurs.
However, it is not clear how a human driver will respond quickly to events if not fully in charge of the driving task. Indeed, we have already seen the tragic consequences of inattention contributing to serious and fatal accidents involving EVs at SAE automation levels 2+ and 3 .
We can test people’s reaction when interacting with automation, safely, by using driving simulator systems. In this practical you will be analysing data from a group experiment, carried out in 2018), designed to assess the time taken for a Transfer of Control (ToC) between the system and a human driver, under ‘Alert’ (scenario 1) and ‘Distracted’ (scenario 2) conditions.
2.2 Methodology:
The study involved eight participants. Table 1 provides demographic information about the participants, including their gender, age range, whether or not they hold a valid driving license and, if so, how many miles they reported to drive in an average year.