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Split-second decisions -- navigating the fine line between man and machine

March 13th, 2017 by Joe Dodgshun from Horizon

Today's self-driving car isn't exactly autonomous – the driver has to be able to take over in a pinch, and therein lies the roadblock researchers are trying to overcome.

Automated cars are hurtling towards us at breakneck speed, with all-electric Teslas already running limited autopilot systems on roads worldwide and Google trialling its own autonomous pod cars.

However, before we can reply to emails while being driven to work, we have to have a foolproof way to determine when drivers can safely take control and when it should be left to the car.

'Even in a limited number of tests, we have found that humans are not always performing as required,' explained Dr Riender Happee, from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, who is coordinating the EU-funded HFAuto project to examine the problem and potential solutions.

'We are close to concluding that the technology always has to be ready to resolve the situation if the driver doesn't take back control.'

But in these car-to-human transitions, how can a computer decide whether it should hand back control?

'Eye tracking can indicate driver state and attention,' said Dr Happee. 'We're still to prove the practical usability, but if the car detects the driver is not in an adequate state, the car can stop in the safety lane instead of giving back control.'

Next level

It's all a question of the level of automation. According to the scale of US-based standards organisation SAE International, Level 1 automation already exists in the form of automated braking and self-parking.

Level 4 & 5 automation, where you punch in the destination and sit back for a nap, is still on the horizon.

But we'll soon reach Level 3 automation, where drivers can hand over control in situations like motorway driving and let their attention wander, as long as they can safely intervene when the car asks them to.

HFAuto's 13 PhD students have been researching this human-machine transition challenge since 2013.

Backed with Marie Skłodowska-Curie action funding, the students have travelled Europe for secondments, to examine carmakers' latest prototypes, and to carry out simulator and on-road tests of transition takeovers.

Alongside further trials of their transition interface, HFAuto partner Volvo has already started testing 100 highly automated Level 3 cars on Swedish public roads.

Another European research group is approaching the problem with a self-driving system that uses external sensors together with cameras inside the cab to monitor the driver's attentiveness and actions.