Studies of electrical engineering and information technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Bachelor’s thesis at the Institute of Control Systems (IRS, 2011). Master’s thesis with BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH on robust design of the vehicle dynamics control of a rear-wheel-driven electric vehicle (2013). Since February 2014, member of the scientific staff of IRS.

Modeling and optimization of transition of the driving task from the driver assistance system to the driver by cooperative control concepts

Highly automated driving releases the driver from the driving task, such that the drive becomes safer and more comfortable. When the assistance system reaches its boundary, for example, when leaving the application area (e.g. motorway), the task of driving has to be returned to the driver. Contrary to switch-off functions of today’s assistance systems, new challenges result: At the time of transition, the driver may lack information on the current driving situation. This lacking of situation awareness may lead to more critical maneuvers of the driver.

Within the framework of this research project, a cooperative transition phase is introduced to support the driver on the way back into the control loop. In this phase, driver and assistance system communicate bidirectionally via haptic signals at the actuators. This is why the interaction between driver and assistance system is described by the game theoretical concept of differential games. Via the identification or design of time-variant parameters, this interaction can be influenced. The goal is to create a rapid transition process that still guarantees safe driving by considering human reaction.