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SmartDrive Systems has been awarded a patent for a system designed to assess whether it is safe to continue operating a manned car in autonomous mode (writes Peter Donaldson). The decision would be based on whether the driver is capable of taking over if necessary, and if not, of bringing the vehicle to a stop. The system would include sensors to measure parameters related to the driver’s alertness and the operation of the vehicle, along with a user interface and a set of processors. The processors would be capable of operating the vehicle autonomously and establishing a level of confidence in the safety of continued operation. The system would decide when to challenge the driver to measure their level of responsiveness and therefore their ability to take over. To make that decision it would rely on signals from the sensors combined with its own confidence level. The sensors would provide biometric information about the driver, such as the direction in which he or she is looking, as well as data on traffic, weather and road surface conditions. All of that would feed into the decision on when to make the challenge. This challenge would be a combination of audio and tactile stimuli to seek a response from the operator, who would be expected to touch the user interface, for example. The system would then decide whether the response was correct and quick enough, and then either allow autonomous operation to continue, transfer control to the driver or stop the vehicle. The system would also be able to adjust the responsiveness threshold dynamically according to sensor measurements and related inputs. Measuring the driver’s responsiveness would continue for at least 15 minutes after the challenge. The patent also covers the process that enables the sensors to capture the information in time to make the challenge, as well as the method of transition between autonomous and manual control. In addition, the system would record the events associated with the transition from autonomous to manual modes, and all the information from the sensors, and would transmit the records from the vehicle to a remote server. Car safety patent granted Driverless vehicles