Enhancing Drivers’ Perception of Traffic Lights through Haptic Alerts on the Brake Pedal

In recent times, the increase in traffic volume has led to concerns regarding traffic congestion and safety issues. Various approaches utilizing roadway infrastructure and vehicle systems have been proposed to address these challenges. In this context, we focused on human-machine interfaces that can provide direct signals to humans. Haptic alerts have been extensively studied using feedback mechanisms such as steering wheels or seats, and previous research on pedal haptics has primarily aimed at improving safety. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is a lack of research specifically investigating driver responses when pedal haptic feedback is provided. We propose a novel approach utilizing a motor in the integrated brake system as a feedback method. Our study aims to investigate the promise of haptic alerts on the brake pedal method. Haptic alerts are generated using a motor that activates the integrated brake system, producing waves with specific frequency and amplitude. Using this approach, an simulation on haptic alerts on the brake pedal was conducted, evaluating the position command followability of haptic alerts. The records were obtained by simulating the position control of a three-phase motor for haptic command waveforms with combinations of preset frequencies and amplitudes. The results indicate that haptic alert requires the appropriate frequencies and amplitudes under the performance limits of the system. As part of our future work, we plan to conduct experiments on external environment perception among drivers and evaluate the impact of haptic alerts. Furthermore, we intend to present haptic alert waves with various frequencies and amplitudes to measure the resulting changes in driver response.