Ensuring AVs can safely navigate everything in their path
Ensuring the safety of connected, cooperative and automated mobility (CCAM) systems in all possible driving scenarios is a significant challenge, particularly as the underlying technology increases in complexity. Validating systems with higher levels of automation isn’t always possible with conventional assessment methods, which rely heavily on physical testing. “The number of scenarios that automated vehicles have to master increases exponentially with their automation level,” explains Stefan de Vries, SUNRISE project coordinator at IDIADA in Spain. Depending on the environment in which the vehicles are expected to operate, from highways to urban areas, the number of scenarios that require testing can run into the tens of thousands. To address this, researchers with the SUNRISE project developed a Safety Assurance Framework (SAF) for the validation of highly automated vehicles that includes virtual simulation. “Virtual simulation allows many test scenarios in a short time and at low cost and risk, making it an essential tool in the safety assessment procedures of highly automated and connected vehicles,” says de Vries.
CCAM Safety Assurance Framework
The SAF developed under SUNRISE was designed to fulfil the needs of key international users, to the greatest possible extent. The team defined the terminology of the framework, and devised a method and a tool for scenario selection, a method for the creation of subspaces within each scenario, a way to allocate scenarios to specific test environments, and a variety of metrics and rating procedures. They then defined a suite of tools for safety assessment of CCAM systems, ranging from virtual simulation to hybrid and physical test environments. Finally, de Vries and his colleagues designed the SUNRISE Data Framework, available as an online platform which provides centralised access to a growing number of external scenario databases, allowing its users to extract safety-relevant scenarios, allocate these scenarios to test environments and manage the test results.
Adoption of the SAF
On schedule to complete in August 2025, the project has already delivered a range of outputs, including a draft version of the SAF and its underlying methods, which are available on the SUNRISE website. The project also created an online SAF handbook, which offers users guidance on the SAF, explains each step of the framework, and is enriched with application examples and links that dive into further details. The team hopes that after the project ends in August 2025, key results will feed into European regulations, standards and policies. “That would greatly facilitate SAF adoption by the target users,” adds de Vries. “In parallel, SUNRISE partners will stimulate the uptake of the SAF by target users, so they can fully exploit the SAF for their own commercial and non-commercial benefits.” The long-term goal of the SUNRISE project is for the SAF to be adopted by target users: vehicle safety bodies, certifiers, and industry entities such as vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers, facilitating the safe introduction of CCAM systems across Europe. “Achievement of that goal is expected to significantly accelerate the large-scale introduction of CCAM systems on European public roads and thereby bring citizens a few steps closer to enjoying their benefits – including increased road safety,” notes de Vries.
Keywords
SUNRISE, safety assurance framework, highly automated vehicles, guidance, testing, virtual simulation