Human Factors Evaluation of Level 2 and Level 3 Automated Driving

This project evaluates how drivers interact with different automated vehicle functions under various concepts of Level 2 and Level 3 automation. The objective is to determine whether principles for human-machine interface (HMI) design for automated vehicles could be based on things such as timing, sequence, and presentation of automated functions produced by this study. Methods involve test track evaluations of participants using three distinct automation concepts, two involving automation Level 2 and one involving automation Level 3 (as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] policy paper on vehicle automation; NHTSA, 2013). Data sources included both objective and subjective data from participants’ responses to the different portions of the experimental protocols. Results will be produced from parametric linear regression analyses and qualitative evaluations of participants’ subjective responses to questionnaires. Where appropriate, statistical techniques will be applied for conditioning the sample data to ensure that the assumptions underlying these analyses are met. The detailed timing, sequence, and presentation measurements from the various research efforts involved herein will be used to specify human factors design principles for automated vehicle HMIs. The resulting principles would benefit from subsequent naturalistic evaluations for fine-tuning the performance metrics, and for addressing any gaps or new questions arising from this research. Crash avoidance technologies are evolving rapidly toward increasing automation, involving a higher complexity of interoperability between user and vehicle functions than what has previously been known. Understanding the detailed human factors capabilities and limitations of these users and the impacts of the timing, sequence, and presentation of information presented to the users will be important for shaping the safety policies.