Currently, there is plenty of literature available over user preferences or user perceptions towards autonomous vehicles. I am struggling to form a theme for my stated preference survey over levels of autonomous vehicles that is because the idea is not clear. Can anybody suggest me a theme over which I can form discrete choice experiments.
Present Levels of automation
Level 0 - No automation
Level 1 (Hands on) -Some automation modes are available.Driver and system shares the control of the vehicle.
Level 2 (Hands off) -Some automation modes with full system control over vehicle. Driver monitors driving and should be prepared to intervene immediately.
Level 3 (Eyes off ) - Full system control. Driver do not need to monitor driving and he can do other activities such as using phone or watch movie. Driver attention required in limited time specified by the manufacturer of car.
Future levels of automation:
Level 4 (Mind off) - Similar to level 3, but no driver attention is required for safety. Driver can even sleep and leave driving seat. Level 4 automation supported in limited areas only such as traffic jams. Outside these areas driver should take control.
Level 5 (Steering Wheel Optional) - Steering wheel is optional, no human intervention is required,i.e. A robotic car
Thank you for the suggestion and yes quality of drive, security and safety are important attributes to include in the choice experiments.
I think at first you need to decide which level of automation should be the focus of your research because the preferences of users might vary with the type of automated vehicle/the level of automation. For example, one crucial distinction can be made between automated vehicles that are used in public transport and automated vehicles that are privately owned. Automated shuttles as feeders in transport systems will be mainly used for shorter distances between stations and the destinations of individuals. Shorter distances, in turn, may imply different requirements on inner vehicle interior compared to long-distance travel such as on the highway. So first of all I would recommend to identify the level of automation you would like to focus on which in turn has implications for the relation between driver and the automated system. In automated vehicles with steering wheels and pedals and a driver in the loop, the focus might be more on the effective, safe, smooth and user-convenient interaction between the driver and system, while in automated vehicles without steer and pedals the focus might be on the effective use of in-vehicle time by the passenger (who is longer the driver). However, if we think of automated shuttles as feeders as mentioned before which are mainly used for shorter distances, it may be more important to travel as effectively from A to B without the need to use time productively. So as you can see the matter is quite complex. At first, it would be important to identify the parameters of your scenario and from the concrete parameters and thus scenario descriptions you can move forward. Hope this helps.
Hi there,
Thank you very much for advising such a useful information. It's a very good concept of distinguishing the automated vehicles used for public transport and used privately.
I have a question that the shuttles which are present nowadays are level 4 or level 3? Also, are they slow moving vehicles?
Thanks your explanation helped a lot!
Hello there,
we defined these automated shuttles as SAE level 4 automation as they lack conventional steering mechanisms such as steer and pedals and thus embody the revolutionary approach to vehicle automation. Automated shuttles currently operate at low speed and are used under restrictive condition such as semi-public domains (e.g., office campus, airports). In addition to this revolutionary path to vehicle automation, there is also an evolutionary development path which can be mainly characterised by the activities of the OEMs and the development of AVs with steer and pedals and the driver in the loop. The current level that is commercialised is SAE level 2 (partial automation) or 3 (conditional automation). However, I think that SAE level 3 is slowly becoming to be commercialised. Sometimes I read that SAE level 3 is already commercialised but I personally doubt that. Maybe other people being more knowledgeable in this field can help us out here?
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