Human-machine interaction - Safety assessment
Test person in the driving simulator testing a variant of the system design
Continuous assist driving functions are very common as assistance systems in current new vehicles. They are often a combination of adaptive cruise control and continuous lane departure warning. Initial accidents involving vehicles with these systems in the USA indicate that drivers find it difficult to fully understand the systems and behave correctly. The particular complexity is that drivers have to monitor functions instead of performing them themselves. This fundamentally changes the perception of the driver's role. Sustained monitoring is less successful when drivers are not actively involved.
Experts observe and evaluate human-machine interaction using a standardised tablet tool
In order to be able to examine this effect in particular in the context of human-machine interaction (MMI), the BASt has developed an evaluation instrument. With the instrument, scientists comprehensively and standardised evaluate systems of different manufacturers with regard to MMI. In test scenarios, the experts observe and evaluate the interaction behaviour between driver and system.
The instrument was validated in a test person study in a driving simulator. It is able to distinguish the interaction performance between a modelled, reliable system and an unreliable one. The unreliable system regularly fails, so that the test subjects have to steer themselves. The BASt experts are currently investigating the extent to which the instrument can be transferred to real vehicles.
The procedure will probably make it possible for the first time to evaluate and compare continuously supporting systems with a view to the MMI. The results can be used, for example, in consumer protection to differentiate future assistance or automation systems with regard to the MMI. This promotes a safe design of the systems.
The assessment tool can be used in the future to evaluate the safety of human-machine interaction of series-produced vehicles in subject studies on test tracks