Taking Over Control from Highly Automated Vehicles

Future cars will be able to execute the longitudinal and lateral control and other subtasks of driving. Automation effects, known in other domains like aviation, rail traffic or manufacturing, will emerge in road transportation with consequences hard to predict from the present point of view. This paper discusses the current state of automation research in road traffic, concerning the take-over at system limits. Measurements like the take-over time and the maximum accelerations are suggested and substantiated with data from different experiments and literature. Furthermore, the procedure of such take-over situations is defined in a generic way. Based on studies and experience, advice is given concerning methods and lessons learned in designing and conducting take-over studies in driving simulation. This includes the test and scenario design and which dependent variables to use as metrics. Detailed information is given on how to generate proper control conditions by driving manually without automation. Core themes like how to keep situation presentation constant even for manual drivers and which measures to use to compare a take-over to manual driving are addressed. Finally, a prospect is given on further needs for research and limitations of current known studies.