Claes Edgren

Will There Be New Communication Needs When Introducing Automated Vehicles to the Urban Context

In today’s encounters with vehicles, pedestrians are often dependent on cues in drivers’ behavior such as eye contact, postures, and gestures. With an increased level of automation, and the transfer of control from the driver to the vehicle, the pedestrians cannot rely on such cues anymore. The question is: will there be new communication needs to warrant safe interactions with automated vehicles? This question is addressed by exploring pedestrians’ willingness to cross the street and their emotional state in encounters with a seemingly automated vehicle. The results show that pedestrians’ willingness to cross the street decrease with an inattentive driver. Eye contact with the driver on the other hand leads to calm interaction between vehicle and pedestrian. In conclusion, to sustain perceived safety when eye contact is discarded due to vehicle automation, it could be beneficial to provide pedestrians with the corresponding information in some other way (e.g., by means of an external vehicle interface).

Command-Based Driving for Tactical Control of Highly Automated Vehicles

As vehicles become highly automated, their drivers become more passive. A concern is it may take drivers out of the control loop, causing reduced satisfaction and perceived control. The study explores whether or not drivers feel the need to control tactical decisions when operating highly automated vehicles. An experiment involving 17 drivers was carried out in a driving simulator. Each driver tested two different tactical controllers, allowing him/her to give various tactical commands to the vehicle (e.g., overtake, park). The results indicate that the drivers experienced a need to affect tactical decisions of highly automated vehicles. Several of the tactical commands were found useful, especially on rural roads and highways. It also gave them a feeling of being in control of the vehicle, suggesting that command-based driving might be a way to keep drivers in the control loop.