Transition of Control: Automation Giving Back Control to the Driver

The automotive domain is currently moving towards automated driver assistance applications, like automatic evasive maneuvers to avoid accidents, and even beyond assistance towards automated driving. However, in the near future these systems will only be active under certain conditions, thus still requiring manual control in other conditions. This means that there will be ‘transitions of control’: from the driver to the automated system and vice versa. Then research questions like ‘how should the system take over’, ‘how can the driver take back control’, and ‘can the driver be regarded as a backup if the system fails’, etc. arise. This paper addresses the effects of various parameters in handing back the control to the driver. This is done for TNO’s virtual tow bar system, which is an automated driving system that controls both the longitudinal and lateral vehicle motion at very close following for economic driving. This paper presents results of a driving simulator experiment executed with the aim to evaluate different parameters settings in switching the tow bar system on and off. Due to the short following distances and safety implications of this, there is be a procedure for hooking on / off of the tow bar system. Special attention is paid to driver behavior just after getting back control following a period of automated driving.