Analysis of autopilot disengagements occurring during autonomous vehicle testing

In present-day highly-automated vehicles, there are occasions when the driving system disengages and the human driver is required to take-over.  This is of great importance to a vehicle’s safety and ride comfort.  In the U.S state of California, the Autonomous Vehicle Testing Regulations requires every manufacturer testing autonomous vehicles on public roads to submit an annual report summarizing the disengagements of the technology experienced during testing.  On 1 January 2016, seven manufacturers submitted their first disengagement reports: Bosch, Delphi, Google, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Tesla Motors.  This work analyses the data from these disengagement reports with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the situations in which a driver is required to take over, as this is potentially useful in improving SAE Level 2 and Level 3 automation technologies.   Disengagement events from testing are classified into different groups based on attributes such and the causes of disengagement are investigated and compared in detail. The mechanisms and time taken for of take-over transition occurred in disengagements are studied. Finally, recommendations for OEMs, manufacturers, and government organizations are also discussed.

IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica, 5(1), 58–68. IEEE