Introducing ROADS: A Systematic Comparison of Remote Control Interaction Concepts for Automated Vehicles at Road Works

TL;DR

The paper addresses the need for robust remote monitoring and intervention interfaces for automated vehicles operating in road-work environments. It implements the Remote Operation Automated Driving Suite (ROADS) to compare three interaction concepts—path planning, waypoint guidance, and trajectory guidance—under one-to-four parallel requests in a within-subject study with 23 participants. Results show path planning as the preferred and most usable approach, though trajectory guidance often yields the worst performance; multiple parallel requests are feasible but degrade performance, particularly for trajectory and waypoint interfaces. These findings inform the design of human-machine interfaces for remote vehicle assistance, suggesting a default path-planning mode with supplementary waypoint capability to balance scalability, control, and safety in mixed-ODD settings. The study also emphasizes open science by offering the Unity-based scenario and data for replication and extension.

Abstract

As vehicle automation technology continues to mature, there is a necessity for robust remote monitoring and intervention features. These are essential for intervening during vehicle malfunctions, challenging road conditions, or in areas that are difficult to navigate. This evolution in the role of the human operator - from a constant driver to an intermittent teleoperator - necessitates the development of suitable interaction interfaces. While some interfaces were suggested, a comparative study is missing. We designed, implemented, and evaluated three interaction concepts (path planning, trajectory guidance, and waypoint guidance) with up to four concurrent requests of automated vehicles in a within-subjects study with N=23 participants. The results showed a clear preference for the path planning concept. It also led to the highest usability but lower satisfaction. With trajectory guidance, the fewest requests were resolved. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing development of HMIs focused on the remote assistance of automated vehicles.

Figures (19)

• Figure 1: Scene overview of the road works.
• Figure 2: Workspace of the participants. The image shows the monitor used for the experiment with a mounted webcam.
• Figure 3: The main screen of the application. Here, four requests have to be handled in parallel. UI elements overview: (1) request list, (2) main request camera, (3) information panel, (4) remote assistance input panel.
• Figure 4: Overview of employed interaction concepts for remote operation. The ego-vehicle is shown in blue. The green part shows the future trajectory that is already planned.
• Figure 5: Backward paths in path planning. Three options are possible, as for forward paths. For visual distinction, other colors are used.