Variable Trust Control Setting for Autonomous Vehicle Highway Navigation and Improved User Experience

This paper addresses the development of a model-based design approach to enhance the acceptance of safe manoeuvrability of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on highways. A variable trust control setting (TCS) is introduced that empowers users to 'feel in control' of the AV, potentially increasing confidence in, and acceptance of, the technology. This setting is grounded in deontological ethics and utilises virtual boundaries (VBs) to guide driving decisions, i.e., the distance between two AVs interacting with one another. The approach is simulated using a dynamic bicycle model that represents each AV, controlled through an adaptive model-predictive control (MPC) algorithm. The paper outlines the MPC approach, the dynamic bicycle model, and the associated velocity control algorithm. Metrics are introduced to quantify safety of specific AV manoeuvres during interactions with other AVs, enabling the examination of various scenarios. A novel simulation package has been developed to investigate the impact of the proposed variable TCS, focusing on how VBs and steering limitations influence the safety and comfort of AVs during overtaking manoeuvres. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, showing that it could potentially allow users to actively manage the safety and comfort aspects of AV operation.