Shared and traded control for human-automation interaction: a haptic steering controller and a visual interface

Automated and highly automated vehicles still need to interact with the driver at different cognitive levels. Those who are SAE level 1 or 2 consider the human in the loop all the time and require strong participation of the driver at the control level. Yet, to increase safety, trust, and driver comfort with this mode of automation, systems with a strong cooperative component are needed. In this sense, this paper introduces the design of a vehicle controller based on shared control, together with an arbitration system, and the design of a visual human-machine interface (HMI) to foster the mutual understanding between driver and automation while sharing driving task. The driver-automation cooperation is achieved through incremental support, in a continuum spectrum from manual to full automation. Additionally, the design of an HMI to support the driver in a takeover maneuver is presented, considering that this functionality is a key component of vehicle SAE levels 3 and 4. The work presented in this paper represents the latest advances in the integration being carried out within the framework of the PRYSTINE project.