Microsimulation model for assessment of eHMI of autonomous vehicles

Communication interfaces of autonomous vehicles have extended the human-machine interaction to the streets of the cities. This brings into picture the necessity of efficient infrastructures and cooperative systems and consideration of multiple human agents in the system. For efficiency of interface design process, there is a need of automated assessment tools to deliver part of testing through simulations, based on known parameters - physical, geographical and biological. Diversity of available external interfaces and absence of standardization in them give freedom for creative search of related technologies. This paper suggests a tool for assessment of various types of visual eHMI with the help of graphical method applied in a microsimulation model. The proposed method allows testing of different scenarios and adjustment of parameters for different vehicle design, interfaces and human behavior scenarios. The presented method is demonstrated on several types of visual interfaces. The paper provides introduction to the concept of vehicle external interfaces in the context of autonomous driving with relevant challenges of user communication described in related research. The methodology is then presented on a demonstration scenario with description of measured parameters that define efficiency of communication interface. The results show how placement of an interface affects its visibility to observer.