Thesis (MTech (Industrial Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / This paper is positioned within the broader context of public transportation systems, with specific focus on the development of urban micro first and last mile mobility solutions, and what it could mean for individuals and the economy. Globally, urban problems such as traffic congestion, poor public transport integration, and carbon emissions are forcing us to rethink traditional means of transport. Large fossil-fuelled vehicles and limited public transport infrastructure characterize South Africa’s transport market. Despite the growth in car use, public transport and walking are still the predominant “lifeline” forms of mobility for the vast majority of South Africans in order to access work, schools and services. Moreover, the lack of public transport services in key economic corridors and rural areas of South Africa, the role of the metered taxi industry which is currently effectively limited to serving only the needs of the tourist market due to high charging regimes, and finally, the absence of an effective inner city transport system endorses the lack of first and last mile transportation solutions, and the integration thereof with other transport mediums. This adds to the conflict commuter’s face on a daily basis in obtaining a seamless distribution of transport services. 80% of trips in urban areas are less than 3km, placing urban micro mobility vehicles in an ideal position as a solution to transportation. This describes the investigation conducted into micro-mobility trends within South Africa to identify a key mode of transport that would comply with the stated requirements, and allow accessibility to commuters within the city and to the surrounding communities. In 2014, Mellowcabs, which are electric public transport vehicles that provide first and last mile transport services, was identified as a promising candidate within the local micro-mobility vehicle context. They were in need of a design input for their immediate next requirement, which thus describes the development of a good protective side door system that would isolate passengers in adverse weather conditions, whilst similarly affording comfort and safety features found in normal passenger vehicles. The design process is focused on creating a new side door, however, at the same time the product should be, elegant, smart, fashionable, comfortable, economical, maneuverable and safe. In addition, the virtual product lifecycle management tool, CATIA, allows the design team to get feedback in terms of physical-based data that correspond to how the door could hinder the passengers interaction while they ingress and egress the vehicle. This enables us to try various designs to perform a comparative study without building a single physical prototype.

[pt] Veículos autônomos ou Higly Automated Vehicles (HAVs) vêm trazendo novos paradigmas para o campo da ergonomia automotiva. A partir do momento em que motoristas se encontram fora de um loop contínuo de tomada de decisão, suas capacidades de retomada de controle manual do veículo durante situações de emergência são comprometidas. Para mitigar este problema, muitos autores acreditam que um maior entendimento dos padrões de aquisição de informação durante retomadas de controle em automação veicular pode fornecer insumos para a concepção de ferramentas designadas a auxiliar o motorista nesta tarefa, ao fornecer informações relevantes em momentos de necessidade. Baseado nestas questões, esta pesquisa visou categorizar o acesso de motoristas a diferentes informações oferecidas em interfaces de veículos autônomos durante a retomada de controle em diferentes níveis de automação. A pesquisa abordou o problema por meio de experimentos em simuladores de condução, onde motoristas foram expostos a diferentes cenários de retomada de controle, e seu seus padrões de olhar foram avaliados, para se testar a hipótese de que eles geralmente acessam a informação presente na interface apenas durante a retomada de controle em si, para checar o estado do sistema. Os resultados sugerem que o olhar do motorista está sujeito a influência de dois fatores: nível de automação e tarefa desempenhada. Foi observado que uma maior a quantidade de informação oferecida na interface aumenta concentração de olhares do motorista nesta região. Informações ativas sobre o ambiente melhoraram o desempenho do motorista durante as retomadas, porém tal benefício não se refletiu em uma maior usabilidade percebida. / [en] Highly automated vehicles (HAVs) are bringing new perspectives for the field of automotive ergonomics. By the time the driver is not constantly on the decision-making loop of the task, his/her performance for resuming control of the automation in safety-critical situations seems to be diminished. To mitigate this problem, many authors believe that by understanding drivers information scanning patterns and decision-making process during transitions of control in vehicle automation it is possible to design tools better adapted to support them in this activity, by providing relevant information in appropriate times. Based on this issue, this research aimed to categorize driver s reliance on the different information provided by the system s HMI during transitions of control in different levels of automation. The research followed a driving simulator experimental approach, where drivers were exposed to different take-over scenarios and their gaze behaviour was measured to test the hypothesis that they generally rely on information on the road to gain situation awareness, and only access the information on the HMI in cases of transitions of control, to check the system status. The results suggest that driver s gaze behaviour patterns are susceptible to influence of two main factors: the level of automation and the task in hand. It was observed that the more information presented on the HMI, the more drivers will look at it. Active information about the road environment have enhanced drivers performance during transitions of control, but it was not reflected in terms of perceived usability of the systems.