Transition of control in automated vehicles : Overview of solutions and acceptance by industry

Until recently the driver of a vehicle was the only agent capable of (safe) execution of the driving task. With the arrival of Automated Driving Systems (ADSs), the execution of (a part of) the driving task has been transferred from a human agent to a non-human agent: ‘the vehicle’. At the same time, the human agent is still obliged take over control in case the ADS reaches the limits of its Operational Design Domain (ODD). From a human factors (HF) perspective, this transition of control (TOC) of (part of) the driving task is a critical moment. In literature, a great deal of research on this topic and on solutions for the TOC has been published.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) is exploring how human factors requirements originating from scientific literature can be added to the type approval process of vehicles (e.g., passenger cars, vans, buses, trucks) equipped with ADS. According to IenW, interaction between ADS and the driver plays an important role in relation to safe use of these systems. Therefore, evaluation of the interaction between ADS and the driver may become part of the type approval process. In a previous project commissioned by IenW, SWOV found that the automative industry is critical towards user-centred design (UCD) process audits, in which human factors requirements play a key role (e.g., representatives would like to see proof that applying UCD yields better products, that workload does not increase, and that prescribed processes are beneficial to their own business processes; see https://open.rijkswaterstaat.nl/@295601/user-centred-design-for-type-approval-ad). A critical perspective may also be present towards the potential outcomes of such a process (e.g., TOC solutions).

IenW has asked SWOV to investigate whether TOC solutions reported on in scientific literature would be solutions that the industry chooses or is willing to choose to incorporate in their vehicle systems. Therefore, the aim of the current project is to see how ideas on and developments in TOC, including TOC solutions, in scientific literature relate to relevant thoughts and solutions in the industry.