Objective of HUBRIS
HUBRIS is a collaboration of 18 partners and 5 supporting organizations to promote the use of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) by making the systems exhibit more human-like behaviors; the human counterpart.
HUBRIS stands for HUman-like Behaviour of Robotic In-vehicle Systems: developing a high-level self-learning operating system, namely ‘human counterpart’, to bridge the gap between drivers and ADS.
HAN Automotive Research is spearheading the project.
ADS supports drivers only within predetermined safety and comfort margins without considering drivers’ perspectives and needs, preventing them from behaving and interacting naturally with drivers and other road users.
This creates a gap between drivers and ADS, causing drivers to doubt the usefulness of ADS and negatively affecting ADS acceptance and use and limiting ADS safety potential.
So HUBRIS aims to develop a high-performance controller, namely the human counterpart, to bridge the behavioral gap between drivers and ADS. The human counterpart will improve coordination and cooperation between drivers and ADS by observing driver preferences and translating them into functional ADS settings, for example, adjusting the driving time for adaptive cruise control (ACC) depending on the situation.
Project approach HUBRIS
HUBRIS is operationally driven by the Project Board, which consists of the work package leaders and the project leader. The project schedule is divided into 6-month “sprints” and will be continuously updated based on the latest insights.
HUBRIS investigates an innovative idea and thus contains research, design and development elements typical of practice-oriented engineering research. The central research question – arising from the market demand and the above discussion – is as follows:
How do you develop and demonstrate a human counterpart system that can enable socially responsible human-like behavior for automated driving systems?
To answer this research question, several necessary elements must be examined, which are addressed in the following sub-questions:
- Question 1. How can the requirements of driver perspective (safety, comfort and confidence) and sensor data (vehicle and driver state) be defined to enable the development and assessment of the human counterpart?
- Question 2. How can system architecture, specifically in relevant use cases, be developed to support model-based development?
- Question 3. How can the human counterpart system be tested and improved in a (safe) interactive environment with drivers?
- Question 4. How can the developed system be practically realized and demonstrated in practical situations?
- Question 5. How can knowledge and methods that result be optimally communicated and made available to a wider audience?
Contact V-tron:
Expected results
On October 5, 2023, V-tron hosted the plenary ‘HUBRIS Community Meeting.
This meeting discussed further focus in the project, as discussed in separate focus meetings during the month of September. For now, the project will focus on anticipatory or reactive behaviors of ADS systems that are perceived as “comfortable and safe. The experience of persons in the ego vehicle is the focus, looking only at the longitudinal behavior of the ego vehicle (‘stay-in-lane’).
During the visit to V-Tron, the test vehicle could be admired and a set-up for tele-operation was also shown in operation.
On April 26, 2024, a Volvo XC90 arrived at the HAN. This vehicle was provided by Volvo Netherlands.
For HUBRIS, the XC90 is being modified to serve as a driving simulator. Together with V-tron and Hochschule Rhein Waal, HAN has previously developed a driving simulator for truck docking for project VISTA. For HUBRIS, the parties are working together again for a passenger car variant based on this Volvo.
Challenges
The Virtual Reality tests are conducted in a simulator, the passenger seat of the XC90) to measure not only the psychological effects of ADS but also the physical effects. Four components are being used here: people, hardware, software and a geographic information system (GIS).
This component focuses on virtual reality-based driving simulators to create an interactive “driver-in-the-loop” (DIL) environment to study the behavior of drivers with and without ADS. This will create a database that can be used to develop and assess the effect of the human counterpart system. The database will be made freely available in accordance with the requirements of data ethics.
Market players, including V-tron, are taking on sub-study 4. V-tron provides the development of automated driving functions, providing not only the development of the hardware, but also the integration into day-to-day operations, mostly from after-market installation.
With the results of the earlier substudies 1, 2 and 3, the engineers of the partners involved in substudy 4 will work on making hardware such that it can be built into a test vehicle, which will then be used for demonstrations, giving ‘ordinary’ drivers the opportunity to experience the possibilities of human-like ADS.
Sub-research 4 will also include a study to determine the practical applicability of the system in a broader context.
Projectpartners:
HUBRIS is a RAAK-PRO project cofinanced by Regieorgaan SiA (promotion of practice-based research by universities) with a duration from January 2023 to December 2026
Supporting organisations:
