Characterisation of driver neuromuscular dynamics for haptic take-over system design for automated vehicles

In order to develop an advanced haptic take-over system for highly automated vehicles, research into the driver's neuromuscular dynamics is needed. In this paper a dynamic model of drivers' neuromuscular interaction with a steering wheel is firstly established. The transfer function and the natural frequency of the systems are analysed. In order to identify the key parameters of the driver-steering-wheel coupled system and investigate the system properties under different situations, experiments with drive-in-the-loop are carried out. For each test subject, two steering tasks, namely the passive and active steering tasks, are instructed to be completed. Furthermore, during the experiments, subjects manipulated the steering wheel with two distinct postures and three different hand positions. Based on the test results, key parameters of the transfer function and system properties are identified and investigated. The data and characteristics of the driver neuromuscular system are discussed and compared with respect to different steering tasks, hand positions and driver postures. These test results identified system properties that provide a good foundation for the development of a haptic take-over control system for automated vehicles.