Study on the impact of indirect driving system on mental workload and task performance of driver

The mental workload and task performance of drivers between direct and indirect driving systems are of interest to special vehicle designers. Four experiments were designed to investigate the way to lower mental workload and improve task performance. Different mental workload measured by heart rate, SpO2 (ox-hemoglobin saturation), EEG (electroencephalogram) and the NASA Task Loading Index workload battery were identified. And task performance including task time, lane strike, obstacle strike and parking accuracy on both direct and indirect driving systems were also recorded. Important system parameters were field of view (FOV) which increased from 30 degree to 85 degree and camera location which changed from A-pillar to C-pillar. With a combined measure, the mental workload was analyzed in more evident way, and a method was purposed to evaluate each factor of the task performance within the data collected. The results show a significant higher mental workload in narrow FOV driving system and a relatively improving of task performance in time order despite system parameters.