Ford and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute put together a clever ersatz-AV: a Ford Transit Connect van with a driver concealed by dressing up as a car seat. The goal was to explore the ways pedestrians, bicyclists, and human drivers react to—and interact with—(apparently) driverless vehicles. Those findings, in turn, will help guide development of new kinds of light signals to communicate AVs’ intent to facilitate pedestrian interaction.
One of the main goals is to find a suitably intuitive and universal replacement for the head nod or hand wave commonly used by human drivers to signal “Go ahead” to a pedestrian or bicyclist, says Ford human factors technical specialist John Shutko.
Researchers have rejected the use of displayed text because of potential language barriers, and symbols because of their low recognition. Instead, the idea being developed creates visual signals from a light bar near the windshield. A solid white light shows the vehicle is in full autonomous mode, a blinking white light indicates acceleration, and a pair of white lights moving side to side signals slowing and stopping. (White might not be the right choice, given its ubiquity in vehicle headlamps—the SAE Lighting Systems Group’s task force on the matter are thinking about specifying selective yellow for these functions, because it is widely legal as a forward-facing colour but at present is largely unused.)
The aim of the “driverless” Ford exercise was to capture on video human reactions to both a self-driving vehicle and to the light signals from the windshield. The research effort supports vehicle manufacturers and users, but also “anyone who walks, rides or drives alongside autonomous vehicles in the future”, says Andy Schaudt, project director at VTTI’s Center for Automated Vehicle Systems.
The faux-driverless car caused something of a stir in its travels around Arlington, Virginia, a town not far from Washington, DC—with a reporter’s video even making national news in the United States.
