Safety System Assessment Case Study of Automated Vehicle Shuttle

Abstract

Automated vehicle (AV) minibuses, i.e., AV shuttles, are gaining popularity in the testing of new types of transportation services in real traffic conditions. AV shuttles have moved from closed test areas to low-traffic public sites such as local residential areas, technology parks, university campuses, etc. These types of vehicles are usually low-speed and rely on a lidar-camera sensor set and a self-driving software stack. These new use cases are increasing these systems’ safety demands. In addition to functional safety, many other aspects need to be considered. In this study, a risk analysis model is developed, combining the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method. The proposed model is utilized to prioritize risks corresponding to the particular case study, based on real AV shuttle bus development, and focuses on the low-level hardware/software safety issues and improvements.