Design of Human-Machine Interface for Truck Platooning Using Driving Simulator
DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005676
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This study addresses the human factors challenges associated with unmanned truck platooning, specifically focusing on the burden placed on the lead vehicle driver who must ensure the safety of the entire convoy. As autonomous truck platooning gains attention as a solution to logistics labor shortages and environmental concerns in Japan, the need for effective support systems for the lead driver is critical. The authors propose and evaluate a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) designed to assist lead drivers in monitoring surrounding traffic and performing lane changes (LC) safely. The HMI combines a mirrorless image display, optimized based on interviews with freight companies, with a novel bird’s-eye view display that visualizes the positional relationships between the platoon and other vehicles. The effectiveness of the proposed HMI was evaluated using a driving simulator (DS) with six degrees of freedom. Eight healthy adult males with heavy-duty vehicle licenses participated in the experiment. The experimental scenario involved the lead driver overtaking a low-speed vehicle on a three-lane highway. The study manipulated four factors: brightness (day/night), traffic density (low/medium), platoon control method (simultaneous steering vs. same-trajectory following), and HMI type (with or without bird’s-eye view). Data collection included objective measures of driving behavior (LC time, inter-vehicle distances, synthetic jerk), biometric measurements (heart rate and perspiration), and subjective evaluations via questionnaires assessing relaxation, ease of LC, and ease of safety confirmation. The results demonstrated that the bird’s-eye view HMI significantly improved driver performance and comfort. Drivers using the bird’s-eye view completed lane changes 0.27 seconds faster than those using only mirrorless images. The bird’s-eye view also resulted in smoother driving, indicated by a 0.83 m/s³ reduction in synthetic jerk, and reduced physiological stress, with lower increases in heart rate and perspiration compared to the mirrorless-only condition. Subjective ratings confirmed that the bird’s-eye view was rated higher for relaxation, ease of lane changing, and ease of safety confirmation. Additionally, daytime conditions, low traffic density, and simultaneous steering control methods generally yielded better performance metrics than their counterparts. The study concludes that the addition of a bird’s-eye view to the HMI greatly enhances the acceptability and safety of lane-changing maneuvers for lead truck drivers in platooning systems. However, the authors note a potential risk: the high convenience of the bird’s-eye view may reduce driver tension, leading to less cautious behavior, such as attempting lane changes with insufficient distance margins. This finding highlights the importance of designing HMIs that balance ease of use with maintaining appropriate situational awareness and caution. The research provides empirical evidence supporting the integration of comprehensive visual aids in autonomous trucking systems to mitigate the physical and psychological burdens on human operators.
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-07 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| extract | success | pdftotext | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-09 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-07 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 8 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-09; verification: verified.
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- Applied Guidance: design guidelines
- Methodological Resource: tool software, validation psychometrics