Takeover Requests in Simulated Partially Autonomous Vehicles Considering Human Factors

In the development of autonomous vehicles, the main focus of sensor research has been in relation to environmental perception, and only minimal work has focused on the human-vehicle interaction perspective. However, human factors need to be considered to ensure the safe operation of partially autonomous vehicles. This study briefly introduces a design methodology for the takeover request (TOR) time in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Level 3 vehicles and compares four different TORs in a simulated environment based on human-in-the-loop experiments with various driving scenarios. A total of 30 drivers participated in the study, and the quantitative/qualitative data obtained show statistically significant differences between the four TOR thresholds. This study shows that the timing involved in the takeover can be obtained by using a performance-based approach considering human factors.