Developing and Evaluating a Human-Machine Interface for the Remote Operation of Automated Vehicles (SAE 4 and 5)

Abstract

The automation of driving tasks is proceeding rapidly. However, for quite some time, highly and especially fully automated driving (SAE 4 and 5) may not be completely feasible from a technical perspective. In order to compensate for the shortcomings of technological progress, teleoperation may serve as a way to effectively use the benefits of automated driving while assuring safety and reliability contributed by a human operator. In the overwhelming majority of situations, this remote-operator will chiefly monitor the vehicles that drives automatedly. In case of extraordinary events that exceed the capabilities of the automation, the remote-operator will take over control of the vehicle. In order to integrate the vehicle’s automation and human remote-operation, the development of a usercentered human-machine interface (HMI) for teleoperation is crucial. Our development of an HMI is tailored to the remote-operation of a highly automated shuttle without an operator on board. The HMI is based on a systematic analysis of use cases, of which detailed requirements were derived. Subsequently, a paper-pencil prototype was generated and refined until a click-dummy emerged. This click-dummy was evaluated by control center professionals. The professionals were first presented the HMI in regular mode. Afterwards, they were asked to solve scenarios with disturbances in the system. Using thinking-aloud, structured interview and questionnaire methodology, the prototype was evaluated regarding its usability, situational awareness, acceptance, and perceived workload. Results support our HMI design for teleoperation of an automated shuttle and they provide insights for a refined HMI design as well as for further research.