Haptics based multi-level collaborative steering control for automated driving

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Increasing the capability of automated driving vehicles is motivated by environmental, productivity, and traffic safety benefits. But over-reliance on the automation system is known to cause accidents. The role of the driver cannot be underestimated as it will ultimately be the most relevant aspect for trust building and social acceptance of this technology. Here we introduce a driver-oriented automation strategy to achieve collaborative steering. Our approach relies on three major functionalities: interaction, arbitration, and inclusion. The proposed control strategy is grounded in the concept of shared control enabling driver intervention over the automation without deactivation. Well-defined physical human-robot interaction types are made available with the arbitration strategy. The automated driving trajectory is adapted to include the driver intent into the tactical level of trajectory planning. This enables driver initiated rerouting and consistent coordination of all vehicle actuators. In this way, automated vehicles, which rely on sight only, are augmented with the incorporation of the driver intent. The driver is neither replaced by nor excluded from the automation, rather their role remains active to the benefit of trust building and driving safety.