SAFETY & TESTING
The CAVForth project has developed a Safety Case to ensure the safe operation of the vehicles on the route at all times. A Safety Case is a structured argument, supported by evidence that proves that a system will operate safely within its operating environment. In practice, it consists of a set of documents, standards, procedures, test data and results that are all linked, tracked and kept on record.
The CAVForth safety case utilises ISO 26262, Road vehicles – Functional safety, an international standard for functional safety of electrical and/or electronic systems that are installed in serial production road vehicles. This means every safety critical decision has been considered and documented to ensure there is clear reasoning as to why the decision was made and the steps taken to mitigate any detrimental effects.
The Safety Case also incorporates other Safety and Cyber relevant standards including ISO/PAS 21448 Road vehicles — Safety of the intended functionality (SOTIF), ISO/SAE 21434 Road Vehicles – Cybersecurity engineering and the DfT Automated vehicles - Code of practice for trialling. It has also incorporated many of the emerging standards for implementing its Safety case products such as the BSI “Enabling safe CAV deployment” suite of standards see https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/british-standards-online-database/bsol-automotive/enabling-safe-cav-deployment/
Other emerging standards such as the new PAS 11281 Connected automotive ecosystems – Impact of security on safety – Code of practice, ISO/TR 4804 Road vehicles — Safety and cybersecurity for automated driving systems — Design, verification and validation, UL 4600 Standard for Safety for the Evaluation of Autonomous Products were also analysed in detail for relevance and direction.
Independent Assessment
As part of the project safety procedures, an independent audit of the safety case will be undertaken by independent experts in the field, prior to use of the vehicles in public service. This will assess not only the procedures and methods used, but also the test and verification plan and its results.
