Teleoperation and the influence of driving feedback on drivers’ behaviour and experience
Time: Wed 2023-05-31 09.00
Location: Integrated Transport Research Lab, Drottning Kristinas väg 40, 114 28
Language: English
Subject area: Vehicle and Maritime Engineering
Doctoral student: Lin Zhao , Väg- och spårfordon samt konceptuell fordonsdesign, Vehicle dynamic group
Opponent: Senior researcher Jonas Andersson, Research Institutes of Sweden
Supervisor: Associate Professor Mikael Nybacka, Farkostteknik och Solidmekanik, Integrated Transport Research Lab, ITRL; Assistant professor Malte Rothhämel, Väg- och spårfordon samt konceptuell fordonsdesign; Professor Jonas Mårtensson, Biomedicinsk fysik och röntgenfysik, Integrated Transport Research Lab, ITRL, Reglerteknik
QC 230504
Abstract
Automated vehicles (AVs) have been developing at a rapid pace over the past few years. However, many difficulties still remain for achieving full Level-5 AVs. This signifies that AVs still require human operators to intervene or assist, such as taking over control of AVs or selecting their routes. Therefore, teleoperation can be seen as a subsystem of AVs that can remotely control and supervise a vehicle when needed. However, teleoperated driving conditions are largely different from real-life driving, so remote drivers may experience different driving feedback. In such a situation, therefore, the driving behaviour and performance of remote drivers can also be impacted. The following three studies were conducted to investigate these points.
First, a seamless comparative study was carried out between teleoperated and real-life driving. Driving behaviour and performance were compared in two scenarios: slalom and lane following. Significant differences in driving behaviour and performance between them were found in the study. The lane following deviation during teleoperated driving is much greater than that of real-life driving. In addition, remote drivers are more likely to drive slower and make more steering corrections in lane following manoeuvres.
Second, three types of steering force feedback (SFF) modes were compared separately in both teleoperated and real-life driving to investigate the effect of SFF on driving experience. The three SFF modes consist of Physical model-based steering force Feedback (PsF), Modular model-based steering force Feedback (MsF), and No steering force Feedback (NsF). The difference between PsF and MsF is that the main forces come from different sources, namely the estimated tyre force and steering motor current, respectively. As expected, the experimental results indicate that NsF would significantly reduce the driving experience in both driving conditions. In addition, remote drivers were found to require reduced steering feedback force and returnability.
Finally, the influence of motion-cueing, sound, and vibration feedback on driving behaviour and experience was studied in a virtual teleoperation platform based on the IPG CarMaker environment. The prototype of a teleoperated driving station (TDS) with motion-cueing, sound, and vibration feedback was first developed to study human factors in teleoperated driving. Then, the low-speed disturbance scenario and high-speed dynamic scenario were used separately to investigate how these factors affect driving. Experimental results indicate that sound and vibration feedback can be an important factor in speed control by providing remote drivers a sense of speed. In the low-speed disturbance scenario, motion-cueing feedback can help with road surface perception and improve the driving experience. However, it did not significantly improve driving performance in the high-speed dynamic scenario.
The research conducted reveals how driving behaviour may change in teleoperated driving and how different driving feedback influences it. These results could provide guidance for improving teleoperated driving in future research and serve as a guide for policymaking related to teleoperation.