Driver Takeover Notification Timing for Automated Driving Transitions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automatic driving systems face challenges in ensuring safe and efficient transitions from automatic to manual driving, particularly in mixed road environments where maintenance and construction of infrastructure are not uniform, leading to intermittent paths and increased risk of traffic jams and accidents.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus and method that actively adjust control based on the driver's state, vehicle travel properties, and road environment information to provide timely and appropriate intervention notifications to the driver, optimizing the return delay time period for seamless section passage without stopping the vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system emergently stops the vehicle when driver takeover is required, then vehicle safety is ensured, but traffic flow is disrupted causing bottlenecks and traffic jams
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by notifying the driver in advance before the vehicle reaches a section requiring manual driving. The notification is issued at a calculated timing that allows the driver sufficient time to return to driving state, preventing the need for emergent stops and maintaining traffic flow while ensuring safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification timing is dynamically adjusted based on the driver's current state (observed through biological activity indicators) and the distance to the section requiring manual driving. This dynamic adjustment optimizes the balance between giving the driver enough time to return to driving and minimizing disruption to traffic flow.
2Reliability
If the system issues notification too early to the driver, then the driver has sufficient time to return to driving, but the notification may be ignored or forgotten by the driver
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms by monitoring the driver's state continuously and adjusting the notification strategy accordingly. The notification timing is optimized based on feedback from the driver's biological activity indicators, ensuring the notification is issued at the most effective moment when the driver is most likely to respond.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the notification parameter (timing) based on the driver's state and distance to the required section. By dynamically adjusting when the notification is issued rather than using a fixed timing, the system ensures the notification is both timely and effective, preventing it from being ignored or forgotten.
3Device complexity
If the system calculates notification timing based on fixed distance only, then the calculation is simple, but it does not account for driver state variations affecting return time
Solution Approach 1:
The notification timing calculation transitions from a static distance-based approach to a dynamic model that incorporates the driver's real-time state. By observing biological activity indicators and adjusting the calculated return time based on the driver's current condition, the system achieves precise timing without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used in timing calculation from merely distance to include driver state indicators. This allows the calculation to adapt to variations in driver response time based on their current state, improving accuracy while maintaining computational efficiency through the use of observable indicators.
Data Source
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AI summary
Notification of driving return to a driver is performed at an appropriate timing. A notification controlling unit controls notification for prompting a driver to return to driving. For example, the notification is performed by a sound output, a light output, display of a character or a mark, haptics, or the like. A calculation unit calculates a return delay time period for determining a notification timing on the basis of a state of the driver. For example, the calculation unit calculates a return delay time period in response to an observable evaluation value based on a type of secondary task being executed by the driver and biological activity observable information of the driver. A return delay time period for determining a notification timing is calculated in response to a type of secondary task and biological activity observable information of the driver, so that a more accurate return delay time period can be obtained and notification of driving return to the driver can be performed at an appropriate timing.