Increasing levels of vehicle automation, driven by market demand and technology evolution, have led to a dramatic increase in functional software content and vehicle complexity. The testing of such systems presents a significant challenge for developers, deployers, regulators and insurers, who need to gain confidence in the safety, robustness and performance of these systems in the real world.
Traditional automotive approaches to validation and verification would require an extremely protracted and ultimately impracticable test programme to achieve an appropriate level of test coverage. This is due to the complexity of the systems and their interactions with the surrounding environment, meaning that vast numbers of scenarios would need to be tested.
CERTUS will address this challenge through the development of standardised processes where simulation techniques will be integrated to form a Digital Twin of the vehicle and its operational design domain. Delivering the capability to assure products virtually in a repeatable manner and with a high degree of confidence, which is critical to realising the ultimate goal of using virtual test for vehicle certification. Backed by a structured methodology which provides the level of rigour required to satisfy stakeholders, CERTUS will deliver robust simulation which optimises the quantity of physical testing whilst demonstrating the correlation of simulated performance to real world scenarios and ultimately reducing the time to market.
The Greater Cambridge region has achieved growth and success on an international scale, but high commuter demand has led to issues of congestion and poor air quality. The Cambridge Autonomous Vehicle strategy details opportunities to use AVs to tackle these problems.
The Cambridge Connector will undertake an at-scale trial of on-demand self-driving vehicles with up to 13 electric vehicles providing passenger services that integrate with existing transport services within Cambridge.
Services will operate on two sites where there are identified opportunities: Cambridge University's West Cambridge Campus and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Self-driving vehicles will leverage a 5G connected Remote Monitoring and Tele-Operation service to enable a cost-effective deployment that ensures complicated edge cases can be accommodated through temporary override of vehicle automation.
Three electric vehicle models are planned for use, the LEVC TX 6-seat taxi, the Maxus eDeliver 13-seat minibus and the REE P7 based vehicle. The minibus fleet will include 2 wheelchair accessible versions ensuring an inclusive service provision. Conigital's lift-and-shift self-driving platform will be integrated with these vehicles to provide existing functionality that will be further enhanced to allow operation with remote operations support.
System validation and verification will be undertaken initially in a simulation environment using a suite of edge cases. Specific research will be undertaken in testing methodologies for L4 vehicles with no-onboard operator and system validation will be completed at the test-track.
A safety case will be prepared by an independent organisation to ensure an objective assessment is undertaken.
The 12-month trial will be undertaken in a phased manner, initially with engineers providing on-board supervision, migrating to trained operators and culminating in a final phase with only remote operators (i.e. no on-board supervision, subject to legislation).
Key to the project is engagement with transport operators: providing a self-driving service run by operators with operator staff and management, ticketing and payment mechanisms.
A key objective of the project is to assess the commercial viability and challenges in operating self-driving passenger services as a transport mode that integrates with the wider transport eco-system.
The inclusion of existing transport operators as the project operator and associated knowledge transfer will offer critical insights between all the project partners and provide an opportunity to continue service operations beyond the project on a commercial basis.
Key external stakeholders will be engaged to ensure relevant insights are shared to help define future strategy and regulation and help accelerate similar deployments elsewhere.
To make self-driving vehicle operations commercially viable, and offset current technology and driver costs, they must operate as efficiently as possible. This project therefore proposes a multi-area, multi-application self-driving operation, underpinned by a 5G-based, central, Remote Monitoring Teleoperation (RMTO) system.
We will operate a mixed fleet of 13 self-driving vehicles, moving passengers between Solihull rail station and Birmingham Business Park, and between Coventry rail station and Coventry University campus. These routes have a known, current, need for alternative transport and offer an ideal platform from which to develop commercial self-driving solutions. To maximise efficiency, and improve commercialisation opportunity, the Coventry operation will utilise the same vehicles at off-peak to make local University mail and parcel deliveries.
To deliver this ambitious project, the consortium includes technology organisations, academia, transport authorities, insurance companies, local councils, and industry specialists.
The central RMTO will monitor the fleet and ensure difficult situations can be remotely overcome.
The self-driving vehicles will use a common self-driving solution including:
* A lift-and-shift vehicle automation stack,
* An advanced asset management system,
* A Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app.
The self-driving platform will be enhanced to a L4 capability with the intention to remove the on-board supervisor from the vehicle - leveraging the RMTO.
Extensive verification and validation will be undertaken, including:
* Evolution of simulation environment
* Edge-case utilisation to enhance AV performance
* Specific RMTO operational considerations and minimum risk manoeuvres
* In-depth safety assessment based on operations without on-board operator(s)
The project will have an extended phased trial across both locations:
* Phase 1 -- engineer supervisors on board
* Phase 2 -- trained supervisors on board
* Phase 3 -- RMTO-only
The project will demonstrate and further develop an understanding of:
* Commercial viability of self-driving operations, and the influence that central RMTO, shared fleets, and multi-application aspects have on the business case
* Passenger value and pricing components of such services
* Ongoing operational practices, including insurances, repair and maintenance, fleet ownership and service operation
* Verification and validation of L4 systems
* Human factors and development of remote assistance and driving
Core outputs from the project will be:
* Phased trials and operation
* Business case with a clear route to commercialisation of such services in other parts of the country
The ideal intention of the consortium is to demonstrate commercial viability and continue the services beyond the project as commercial operations, serving Solihull and Coventry, with a route to delivering similar services elsewhere in the UK.
"The ViVID project is a Ford led collaborative industry research project that aims to focus on the development of digital engineering tools to promote model based systems design and verification for the Virtual Product Development process. The research will be conducted with a total of three UK industry based partners and an academic partner, who will develop key digital tools to allow UK companies to leverage the improved product development and training capability.
During the project, the team will demonstrate a new analytical approach for engineering process that enables the next generation electrified vehicle technologies to be developed. Reducing the reliance on serial engineering and physical prototypes, will provide the efficiencies needed to provide a more competitive attribute set and reduce overall carbon emissions by accelerating time to market of the product."