IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - January 2020 - 37

Development
Technology development is the key phase in bringing a
product to market; however, there is a significant difference between small-scale prototyping and large-scale
automotive-product development. In the former case, the
software solutions and tools are freely chosen to create
Laws and Regulations
a proof-of-concept working prototype. In automotiveLaws and regulations for automated transportation vary
product development, numerous restrictions apply. The
among countries, and they serve as general guidelines for
functional requirements defined
the development of driving-assisin the systems-and-safety phase
tance and self-driving features
require consistency in the technibecause they define the output
cal solutions prov ided by the
requirements. The most widely
Self-driving-car
development phase and other soaccepted regulation is the Vienna
development on
Convention on Road Traffic, an
called boundary conditions re international treaty ratified by 74
garding the processing hardware,
the global scale
countries. It facilitates internadevelopment framework, coding
has reached a point
tional road travel and establishes
guidelines, and software unitstandards for traffic rules. Anothand software-and-system integrawhere prototypes
er notable set of guidelines is
tion tests.
have proven the
maintained by the U.S. National
validity of the
Highway Traffic Safety AdminisFunctional Requirements
tration (NHTSA) to encourage
Functional requirements are a set
technology in various
entities to define and document
of actions that the system should
environments.
op er a t ion a l de s i g n dom a i n s
carry out as a response to certain
(ODDs) for automated systems.
inputs in predefined env ironThe NHTSA specifications ser ve
ments. The requirements can be
a s a ba s e for assessment promitigated through all of the modcesses and procedures, testing, va lidation, a nd operules, from the lowest level (for example, data handling
ating conditions [6]. Other notable regulations include
for sensors) through software modules (algorithms for
the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) functiondetection) to the systems level (solutions for automated
performance standards and European New Car Assessdriving). The ODDs define use cases and corresponding
ment Program (NCAP) requirements, although NCAP
verification methods; specifically for automated driving,
certifications are not universally recognized. These regurequirements regarding training data, algorithms, and
lations have a direct effect on the functional requests and
test cases are directly derived from them. The process
performance and safety requirements for any automatedof derivation requires full cooperation between the safedriving system.
ty and development teams, and, since global standards
and guidelines have not been accepted, it represents one
of the core special competencies of developer communiSystems and Safety
ties and industry players. Technical solutions that fulfill
Even though highly automated vehicles exist only in
functional requirements are incorporated and impleprototype form, the workflow presented in this article
mented as features that are ready for testing and verifienables safety considerations to become a part of the
cation/validation.
development process from the beginning. This method
facilitates simulated testing and helps information
about new safety considerations and the maturity of
Technical Solutions
the automated-driving system to flow to the technicalSolutions incorporate software frameworks, algorithms,
development processes. The systems-and-safety phase
and lines of code and are released in software packages
lays out general functional requirements for self-drivthat fulfill the acting functional requirements. This
ing software solutions and oversees/synchronizes
includes passed-performance and accuracy checks, softdevelopment by providing tools and data, including sets
ware robustness, and unit-integration and system tests,
of software-development guidelines to facilitate code
and it enables data logging. For autonomous driving,
depending on the ODD and level of autonomy (L0-L5) that
safety, security, and portability in the context of em is required, any or all of the following features should
bedded systems. One of the most widely used set of
be incorporated:
such guidelines is produced by the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association and directly affects the
◆ L0-L2 (ADAS): sensing and actuation interfacing, data
development of electronic components throughout the
handling and transfer, recognition capabilities with the
automotive industry.
required performance and active vision-degradation
product-development techniques regarding system, software, and hardware design and integration. Laws and
standards serve as boundary conditions/inputs for the
safety-development pipeline.

Ja nu a r y 2020

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IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - January 2020

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