Self-driving cars
From 2017 to 2018, I assisted Dr. Helen Loeb and Dr. Aditya on their autonomous vehicle research at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention. The goal was to study human behavior on an autonomous vehicle simulator and measure the reaction times of participants in a variety of age groups. The research was published by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
Abstract: Autonomous and/or automated vehicles offer a host of future opportunities but leave many questions unanswered regarding their impact on crash avoidance or the ability of drivers to effectively scan and re-engage from self-driving mode when necessary to avoid crash scenarios. Considering a 16-year-old is several times more likely to die in an automobile crash than other licensed drivers, it was crucial to test both teenage drivers and adults to determine head-on collision avoidance abilities when subjected to a failing autopilot in a simulated autonomous vehicle. In this study, eight teenagers ages 16-19 and four experienced adults underwent four simulated drives (one manual practice drive and three simulated autonomous drives) using a hi-fidelity, Real Time Technologies SimDriver Simulator to represent being in a self-driving vehicle. When exposed to a head-on crash event where the opposing vehicle crosses the dividing line and drives towards the subject, most subjects successfully swerved to avoid the car albeit with several oscillations before stabilization.