Effect of Haptic Guidance Steering on Lane Following Performance by Taking Account of Driver Reliance on the Assistance System

This paper focuses on the effect of haptic guidance steering on driver lane following performance by simulation study and, in particular, different degrees of driver reliance on the assistance system are addressed. Driver interaction and reliance on the assistance system is represented by two parameters in a driver model: target steering angle to torque gain and neuromuscular reaction gain for haptic feedback. The haptic guidance system is designed based on a two-point visual model and applies a proportional-derivative control theory. The lane following performance with different degrees of driver reliance on the assistance system is compared and evaluated using three different sets of driver parameters, and a manual (unassisted) driving condition is conducted as comparison. Moreover, lane following performance is also investigated in the case of a system failure. The results indicate that the haptic guidance system is effective on improving lane following performance, and the performance is sensitive to the degree of driver reliance on the assistance system, especially in the case of a system failure. The cost-benefit analysis suggests that the driver determines the degree of reliance on the assistance system by balancing the improvement of lane following performance and maintenance of own driving strategy.