Mediator

The ongoing transition to autonomous driving has huge safety potential, but also brings new risks. Think about driving mode confusion, overreliance on the system, reduced situational awareness and dangerous situations due to misuse. The driving task for the user changes to a more supervisory role, reducing the task load and potentially leading to degraded human performance. Similarly, the automated system may not (yet) function in all situations.

Societal challenge: Mobility Main disciplinary perspective: Technology

The objective of the MEDIATOR project is to intelligently assess the strengths and weaknesses of both the driver and the automation and mediate between them, while also taking into account the driving context.

This project will optimise the safety potential of vehicle automation during the transition to full (level 5) driving automation. It will reduce risks, such as those caused by driver fatigue or inattention, or on the automation side imperfect automated driving technology. MEDIATOR will facilitate market exploitation by actively involving the automotive industry during the development process. It will do so with respect to the emotional merits of automobility and the automotive industry, to assure both user and industry acceptance.

To accomplish the development of this support system, MEDIATOR will integrate and enhance existing knowledge of human factors and human-machine interfaces, taking advantage of the of expertise in other transport modes (aviation, rail and maritime). It will develop and adapt available technologies for real-time data collection, storage and analysis and incorporate the latest artificial intelligence techniques, such as deep learning.

TU Delft researchers of three faculties are involved in the project: Industrial Design Engineering, Technology, Policy and Management (Transport Institute), and Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Sciences. IDE is the main driver of Delft’s involvement, responsible for full HMI design.