Self-driving cars · Senior thesis
Status
Concept complete
Role
Sole designer
Field
Automotive · Industrial design
Timeline
2025 · One year
The problem
When a self-driving car gives control back, the driver may not be ready to take it.
It started on the highway, where my mom and I kept missing exits.
1
Today, people decide
At high speed, drivers have little time to read signs and pick a lane.
2
Soon, cars decide
Self-driving cars make these calls, until one is too hard.
3
Then, they hand it back
At Levels 4 and 5, the car drives itself but may still give control to someone who wasn't watching.
Design goal
Get the driver ready before the car lets go.
Handing back
The car lets go only when the driver is ready.
I designed the handover as five steps. The car warns early, checks the driver, and eases them in.
1
Alert
Lights and sound announce the handover; the desk, seat and wheel are about to move.
2
Get ready
The wheel comes out of the dashboard; the windshield shows speed, the car ahead and the lane.
3
Confirm
The driver presses Handover. The car checks for hands on the wheel.
5
If not confirmed
Not ready?
The car finds the nearest safe place and parks.
4
Ease in
The pedals start soft, and the car holds its speed for a while.
The screens
The screens change with who is driving.
While the car drives, the screens are yours. When you take over, they clear down to the map.
Default
While the car drives: calendar, music and work email next to the map.
Status strip
AI driving
The car icon is green and says READY.
Status strip
Manual driving
The steering-wheel icon turns green instead.
The system, step by step
What the car does and what you do, from getting in to getting out.
01Getting in
02AI starts driving
03AI drives
04Handover starts
05You start driving
06You drive
07Arrive
Car
The system turns on. The steering wheel is hidden.
AI driving turns on. The windshield shows your schedule or email.
Keeps speed, follows traffic, adapts to the road.
Starts changing from AI to you.
The windshield switches to helper mode: route and lane hints.
Stops driving but keeps watching around the car. Warns you if needed.
—
You
You sit in the car.
You choose AI driving.
You sit, work or relax.
You change your mind and want to drive.
You start driving.
You focus on the road.
You leave the car.
The windshield
Only what needs your eyes goes on the windshield.
I sorted the cockpit by how urgent each thing is. Road cues on the windshield, status below it, everything else on the display.
Lane change
A green path on the road leads across the lanes to the exit.
The car ahead
A red bar on the road marks the gap closing to a truck.
The display locks
In manual driving, it shows only the map.
It follows your eyes
Information brightens when you look at it. Warnings never dim.
Other cars know
The car tells nearby cars a person is now driving.
Full size
Cardboard and 3D print found problems a screen couldn't.
I built the cockpit at full size. My earlier interviewees, classmates and my professor tried each round.
Round 3Sketches on dashcam video
HUD video
Colors and numbers confused people; they wanted the arrow lower and a pedestrian reminder.
Biggest problem
The first HUD showed too much, so each round took something off it.
Round 1Cardboard
Long screen
It pulled the eye away from the road.
Round 2Cardboard, two sizes
Wheel
The speed moved into the wheel; the round one was easier to hold.
Round 43D print
Printed wheel
The wheel works.
The look
The finished cockpit, and what the driver sees.
Renders of the cockpit, and the demo video. The video plays two highway moments: a lane change before an exit, and a warning as the gap to a truck closes.
From the front
The whole cockpit, seen straight on.
Demo video
A lane change before an exit, then a warning as the gap to a truck closes.
Looking back
Test the handover itself, not just its parts.
I presented Stratos at Purdue's senior show in 2025. An interaction design graduate student singled out its range: from cardboard and 3D print to a demo video of what the driver sees.
What I'd do differently
Test the handover in a driving simulator. The rounds tested the wheel and the HUD, not the moment of taking over.
Decide the buttons sooner. How the wheel's buttons work with the windshield was left to the end.
What's next
OpenHow the wheel's physical buttons work with the windshield and the wheel screen.
LaterTime how long drivers take to be ready, and what they miss in the first minute.
CreditsThanks to my professors Jung Joo Suhn and Steve Visser. Stratos was a solo project.