Driving for a long time without getting sleep account for large proportions of car crashes according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As computers do not have to sleep for the most part self-driving cars can fix it. Today’s vehicles require human alertness and monitoring to take the road. As per new study conducted at NASA’s Ames Research Centre in California’s Silicon Valley implies passive role can leave drivers to more into sleepiness. The research suggests humans interact with autonomous system such as those used in aircraft and in spaceflight systems. It will contribute to agency’s research around safe introduction of automation in aviation and drowsy drivers can be important consideration for self-driving features in cars.
Autonomous systems are becoming more common in both aviation and spaceflight and some pilots report using autopilot as backup when coping with sleepiness during a flight. Driving is in many ways similar to flying drivers are a lot more common than pilots the lab decided to study them first. The team looked if people on their ordinary sleep schedule would show more sleepiness supervising a self-driving vehicle. Study participants were give sleep in the same range of habits of general population which was eight hours of sleep.
Participants in three separate experiments completed 48 minute session in driving simulator. In one condition they had full control of simulator’s steering wheel, gas pedal and brake. In another condition they used self driving modes where they had no control of vehicle dynamics but they kept hand on the steering wheel while monitoring the vehicle. The result showed when supervising rather then actively operating the vehicle participants reported feeling sleepier and showed increased signs of nodding off. “ The bottom line is not that self driving cars are more or less safe than manually driving,” said Erin Flynn Evans, director of the Fatigue Countermeasures Lab.
Fatigue in Flight and on the Road
As they understand more about relationship between fatigue and people’s ability to keep tabs on an autonomous system, the researchers will apply this knowledge to their work in aviation. As astronauts too have highly automated procedures for lunar of Mars mission NASA is using this study to help design such procedure and related policies where enough time is given for those astronauts to sleep.
Now that they understand more about the relationship between fatigue and people’s ability to keep tabs on an autonomous system, the researchers will apply this knowledge to their work in aviation. Future studies could include working with pilots using flight simulators and, later, on actual flights.
Since astronauts, too, will likely have highly automated procedures for the Artemis lunar missions and eventual Mars missions, NASA is using this study to help design such procedures and related policies, including scheduling enough time for those astronauts to sleep.” We hope that our work will help the research community understand how people’s ability to monitor a situation is different from their ability to actively engage in it” said Flynn Evans. Everyone before driving should make sure to get enough sleep until fully autonomous vehicles may be ready to take the wheel.