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The delegation of lateral control to an automatic device was examined on the
track [HOC 06]. In particular, there was significant difficulty in regaining lateral
control in situations where obstacles were bypassed that required the device to be
countered (without it requiring effort). This difficulty, like that concerning the ACC,
could partly be due to a complacency effect, often described in aeronautical
literature, linked to the negligence of supervision of the delegated function. Young
and Stanton [YOU 02] have put forward some experimental evidence regarding a
more radical hypothesis, however. According to this hypothesis, the delegation of a
function would globally reduce the mobilized attention resources, including
ensuring other functions that remain the responsibility of the driver. Such a
hypothesis deserves further investigation, due to its severity.
Finally, in the specific frame of the PARTAGE project, a new mode is currently
under development: the
continuous shared control
mode. On the basis of a
cybernetic model of driver trajectory control, its aim is to provide the driver with
part of the steering torque, in order to increase comfort and safety [SAL 11]. This
mode is therefore between mutual control and function delegation because it acts on
the vehicle but without taking the full control of the function.
5.3.3.
Prevent driver failures
The final research theme that we present in this section deals with the question
of diagnosis of driver failures in real time, considered here from the specific point of
view of the detection of hypovigilance
9
states and the prediction of risks of falling
asleep at the wheel. The state of tiredness or drowsiness of the driver is responsible
for 10−20% of accidents according to [HOR 99], but this percentage could be a lot
higher on the motorway [GAR 98], which is a particularly monotonous driving
environment, taken for long journeys that favor the appearance of states of tiredness.
These questions have been examined in the context of different European projects
(AWAKE
10
, SENSATION
11
, or AIDE
12
). These projects aim to design driver
supervision
devices to assess their level of vigilance in real time, be it to guarantee
driving safety or to adapt the interfaces (sound, visual or haptic) according to the
estimated level of vigilance (by varying their intensity, for example). At one of the
9 Hypovigilance: decrease in vigilance, corresponding to more or less advanced states of
falling asleep.
10 AWAKE (European project 2001-2004): System for Effective Assessment of driver
vigilance and Warning According to traffic risK Estimation
.
See: http://www.awake-eu.org/.
11 SENSATION(European project 2002-2006): Advanced Sensor Development for
Attention, Stress, Vigilance and Sleep/Wakefulness Monitoring. See: http://www.sensation-
eu.org/.
12 AIDE (European project 2004-2008): Adaptive Integrated Driver-vehicle interfacE (2004-
2008). See: http://www.aide-eu.org/.
