Personalized Driving Styles in Safety-Critical Scenarios for Autonomous Vehicles: An Approach Using Driver-in-the-Loop Simulations

Abstract

This paper explores the use of driver-in-the-loop simulations to detect personalized driving styles in autonomous vehicles. The driving simulator used in this study is modular and adaptable, allowing for the testing and validation of control and data-collecting systems, as well as the incorporation and proof of car models. The selected scenario is a double lane change maneuver to overtake a stationary obstacle at a relatively high speed. The user’s behavior was recorded, and lateral accelerations during the maneuver were used as criteria to compare the user-driven vehicle and the autonomous one. The tuning parameters of the lateral and longitudinal controllers were modified to obtain different lateral accelerations of the autonomous vehicle. A neural network was developed to find the combination of the two controllers’ tuning parameters to match the driver’s lateral accelerations in the same double lane change overtaking action. The results are promising, and this study suggests that driver-in-the-loop simulations can help increase autonomous vehicles’ safety while preserving individual driving styles. This could result in creating more individualized and secure autonomous driving systems that consider the preferences and behavior of the driver.