Computing Device for an Assistance System of a Vehicle for Carrying Out System-Initiated Automated Lane Change Maneuvers, Assistance System, and Method

A computing device for an assistance system for the automated lateral control of a vehicle, wherein the computing device comprises:

• a memory storing processor executable software;
• and
• a processor configured via execution of the software to:
• determine a free gap for an automated lane change maneuver by reference to environmental data,
• output an offer signal for outputting an offer to a driver for the automated lane change maneuver,
• receive attentiveness data that describes a viewing direction and/or a head orientation of the driver,
• determine whether a situational awareness of the driver for the automated lane change maneuver is in force by way of an acceptance of the offer, wherein the situational awareness describes a turning of the viewing direction and/or of the head orientation towards a region which is assigned to the free gap,
• output an activation signal for automatically activating direction of travel indicators of the vehicle, and
• when the situational awareness is in force, output a steering signal for actuating a steering system of the vehicle for the execution of the automated lane change maneuver.

A method for the automated lateral control of a vehicle, comprising:

• identifying a free gap for an automated lane change maneuver, by reference to environmental data;
• outputting an offer signal for outputting an offer to the driver for the automated lane change maneuver;
• receiving attentiveness data that describes a viewing direction and/or a head orientation of the driver;
• determining whether a situational awareness of the driver with respect to the automated lane change maneuver is in force, by way of an acceptance of the offer, wherein the situational awareness describes a turning of the viewing direction and/or of the head orientation towards a region assigned to the free gap;
• outputting an activation signal for the activation of direction of travel indicators of the vehicle;
• and
• outputting a steering signal for actuating a steering system of the vehicle, for the execution of the automated lane change maneuver, when the situational awareness is in force.