A Lane Keeping Assist System for Passenger Cars -design Aspects of the User Interface

Many road departure accidents are caused by the drivers’ lack of attention. This is in many cases due to distraction, drowsiness or intoxication. The Lane Keeping Aid System (LKAS) described in the paper intends to be used as an active safety system, thus aiming at decreasing the amount of unwanted lane departures. The challenge in the development of such kinds of functions lies in the determination of dangerous situations and the design of appropriate warning/ intervention strategies. The system is intended to go unnoticed with the driver and intervenes only in instances where the driver mismanages steering control. Unlike systems which issue an audible sound, the type of warning is a tactile feedback via the steering wheel. The torque is designed in a way that it communicates to the driver the appropriate steering wheel angle required in order to return in lane. In this paper, both the underlying ideas for such a lane departure warning system and test track measurements will be presented and discussed.