Safe road trains for the environment (SARTRE): Validation of SARTRE Platoon service and the SARTRE HMI

Ever since the electronically coupled vehicles concept was introduced in 1998, besides the increased reliability and reduced cost of electronics and communications, it is now feasible to develop a safe and reliable platooning system, which includes specific Human-Machine Interface (HMI) for platoon vehicles. However, the development of new and sophisticated in-vehicle systems fostered by technical innovation demands careful validation of these systems. Whereas excellent system performance may be sufficient for the technician, it is as important that the equipment is appealing and accepted by the driver. It is unproductive to invest effort in designing and building a driving support system if the system is never switched on, or even disabled. Consequently, the aim of this study is to validate the acceptance of the SARTE platoon service and the developed HMI for a platooning environment within the European project SARTRE [1]. Taking into account potential end-users point of view, was evaluated the following indicators: usefulness, satisfying level, understanding level, ease of use, perceived safety and workload, by means of an Acceptance Scale questionnaire, Technological Acceptance Model questionnaire, etc., in order to collect the self-reported data after platoon driving tests. This was allowed thanks to this study was conducted in a driving simulator, under virtual environment.