Verification of vehicle operator awareness before transition from autonomous-mode to manual-mode

A controller-circuit for operating a vehicle, said controller-circuit comprising:

• a first-input configured to communicate with an object-detector used to detect one or more targets proximate to a host-vehicle, said host-vehicle operable in an autonomous-mode and a manual-mode;
• a second-input configured to communicate with an operator-monitor used to detect a gaze-direction of an operator of the host-vehicle;
• and
• a processor in communication with the object-detector and the operator-monitor, said processor configured to determine a classification of each target detected by the object-detector, said classification includes a primary-target and an ignored-target, determine that a hand-over of operation of the host-vehicle from the autonomous-mode to the manual-mode is recommended, perform a verification that the operator has gazed at each primary-target more recently than a primary-time, and in response to the verification, execute the hand-over.

A method for operating a vehicle, said method comprising:

• detecting, with an object-detector, one or more targets proximate to a host-vehicle, said host-vehicle operable in an autonomous-mode and a manual-mode;
• detecting, with an operator-monitor, a gaze-direction of an operator of the host-vehicle;
• determining a classification of each target detected by the object-detector, said classification includes a primary-target and an ignored-target;
• determining that a hand-over of operation of the host-vehicle from the autonomous-mode to the manual-mode is recommended;
• performing a verification that the operator has gazed at each primary-target more recently than a primary-time;
• and
• in response to the verification, executing the hand-over.