Human Factor Studies in Evaluation of Automated Highway System Attributes

Abstract

The goal of the Automated Highway System (AHS) is to blend engineering ingenuity and technology to produce a new level of transportation services. Human factors are difficult to integrate with AHS design because they represent a variety of training, experience, skills, and goals. Human factor considerations are essential for AHS design because humans will be involved in automated driving. For instance, drivers may be expected to instruct their vehicles to exit locations, input parameters such as speed and desired headway, or take control in some emergency situations. The tasks that human drivers will be expected to execute have not yet been fully defined. One human factor dilemma that AHS engineers might face is that if human drivers are not allowed to intervene in the vehicle control process during malfunction and emergency situations, they may be trapped in a system with high failure rates. This could result in public distrust and a lack of public will to deploy an AHS. However, if drivers are allowed to take control of their vehicles at will, some may intervene at inappropriate times, causing a potential system failure. A framework has been developed for evaluating human factor concerns for automated vehicle control. These concerns involve basic driving tasks: (a) detection, (b) recognition, (c) situation analysis, (d) decision making, and (e) control response. An analytical process to determine the responsibilities of the human driver, vehicle, and AHS infrastructure for these driving tasks is presented.