Description

As automated and autonomous vehicle (AV) technology continues to advance, maneuvering approaches such as platooning, where vehicles travel closely together in a coordinated manner, hold the promise of improving traffic flow, fuel efficiency, and overall road safety. While the technological challenges are mostly investigated, understanding human manual driving behavior in the vicinity of autonomous platooning maneuvers is mostly unexplored. As manual traffic remains a critical component of our roadways alongside with an increasing amount of autonomous systems in the future, analyzing how human drivers interact with and respond to autonomous platooning maneuvers is essential for ensuring smooth integration and coexistence on our roads.

In this thesis, the student will investigate how human drivers respond and adapt to autonomous platooning maneuvers, aiming to understand their influence on traffic dynamics and safety. To ensure a safe and controlled environment, experiments will be conducted in virtual reality (VR). A VR study within a lab setting will explore whether human drivers are inclined to violate safety gaps and experience stress in vicinity of autonomous vehicles traveling closely together and assess whether adaptive automated platooning strategies can mitigate their impact on surrounding traffic. Specifically, the thesis will focus on platooning formations involving up to five autonomous vehicles in different scenarios including urban and highway environments. Consequently, this thesis will contribute valuable insights to the development of efficient strategies and systems, promoting smooth interactions between human-driven and autonomous vehicles travelling in platoon formations.