Investigating the Effects of Driver-Vehicle Availability in Human-Autonomous Vehicle Teaming (HAVT)

As automated vehicles (AVs) become more intelligent, the concept of teaming with a semi-autonomous AV has gained considerable traction. However, few empirical studies exist that quantify the performance of an AV-(human) driver team. To contribute to the existing work in this area, the purpose of this study was to examine how the availability of both a vehicle and driver agent, or the unavailability of one agent, influenced teaming in driving. The vehicle’s individual goal: manage the dynamic driving task. The driver’s individual goal: complete a work-related document-editing task. Together, the vehicle would ask the driver about potential roadway dangers and the driver would respond to the vehicle’s queries. Overall, introducing availability allowed for function allocations where drivers had individual goals separate from driving. Study results provide initial insights into operationalizing the future vision of AVs where safety and driver productivity during commutes are maximized.