Vehicle operator awareness system

1. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

determining an awareness challenge having one or more criteria for an operator of a vehicle, wherein the one or more criteria comprise a challenge response interval indicative of a first period of time for the operator of the vehicle to complete the awareness challenge, a response time within the first period of time, and an action for satisfying the awareness challenge, wherein the response time comprises a point in time before which the vehicle operator cannot satisfy the awareness challenge;

initiating a timer measuring elapsed time from a start time of the challenge response interval;

communicating, to the operator of the vehicle, a soft notification indicative of the awareness challenge during the challenge response interval;

detecting whether the operator of the vehicle provides a user input after the response time and whether the user input corresponds to the action for satisfying the awareness challenge; and

in response to detecting the user input, prior to an expiration of the challenge response interval, resetting the awareness challenge.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein resetting the awareness challenge comprises resetting the soft notification indicative of the awareness challenge.

3. The computing system of claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating, to the operator of the vehicle, a harsh notification indicative of the expiration of the challenge response interval in response to determining that the operator of the vehicle has not provided the user input before the expiration of the challenge response interval or that the user input does not correspond to the action for satisfying the awareness challenge.

4. The computing system of claim 3 , wherein the severity of the harsh notification corresponds to the elapsed time.

5. The computing system of claim 3 , wherein resetting the awareness challenge comprises resetting the harsh notification indicative of the expiration of the challenge response interval.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, by the computing system, that the elapsed time has reached a safety time threshold, wherein the safety time threshold identifies an amount of elapsed time after the expiration of the challenge response interval; and

in response to detecting the elapsed time corresponds to the safety time threshold, initiating, by the computing system, a safety stop routine.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein resetting the awareness challenge comprises determining one or more new criteria for the awareness challenge.

8. The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more new criteria for the awareness challenge are determined based at least in part on the user input.

9. A computer-implemented method for maintaining vehicle operator awareness, comprising:

determining, by a computing system that comprises one or more computing devices, an awareness challenge for an operator of a vehicle, wherein the awareness challenge has one or more criteria, and wherein the one or more criteria comprise a challenge response interval indicative of a first period of time for the operator of the vehicle to complete the awareness challenge, a response time interval indicative of a second period of time less than the challenge response interval, and an action for satisfying the awareness challenge, wherein the vehicle operator cannot satisfy the awareness challenge during the response time interval;

initiating, by the computing system, a timer measuring elapsed time from a start time of the challenge response interval;

communicating to the operator of the vehicle, by the computing system, a soft notification indicative of the awareness challenge during the challenge response interval; and

determining, by the computing system, whether the operator of the vehicle provides a user input after the response time interval and whether the user input corresponds to the action for satisfying the awareness challenge.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and wherein the challenge response interval is associated with at least one of a navigation route associated with the autonomous vehicle or a motion plan associated with the autonomous vehicle.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and wherein the challenge response interval is associated with a performance associated with the autonomous vehicle.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the challenge response interval is associated with the vehicle operator.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the challenge response interval is associated with an operator score associated with the vehicle operator.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the challenge response interval is randomized.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the challenge response interval is based at least in part on supervisor input.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:

in response to detecting the user input, prior to an expiration of the challenge response interval, resetting, by the computing system, the soft notification indicative of the awareness challenge.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining, by the computing system, one or more new criteria for the awareness challenge, wherein the one or more new criteria for the awareness challenge are determined based at least in part on the user input.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:

communicating, by the computing system, a harsh notification indicative of the expiration of the challenge response interval in response to determining that the operator of the vehicle has not provided the user input before the expiration of the challenge response interval or that the user input does not correspond to the action for satisfying the awareness challenge.

19. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining an awareness challenge having one or more criteria for an operator of a vehicle, wherein the one or more criteria comprise a challenge response interval indicative of a first period of time for the operator of the vehicle to complete the awareness challenge, a response time within the first period of time before which the vehicle operator cannot satisfy the awareness challenge, and an action for satisfying the awareness challenge;

initiating a timer measuring elapsed time from a start time of the challenge response interval;

communicating, to the operator of the vehicle, a soft notification indicative of the awareness challenge during the challenge response interval; and

detecting whether the operator of the vehicle provides a user input after the response time and whether the user input corresponds to the action for satisfying the awareness challenge.

20. The autonomous vehicle of claim 19 , wherein the soft notification comprises a series of lights indicating the elapsed time within the challenge response interval, wherein one or more of the series of lights illuminate or dull in proportion to the elapsed time.