Scenarios for Development, Test and Validation of Automated Vehicles

Menzel, Till; Bagschik, Gerrit; Maurer, Markus · 2018 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1109/ivs.2018.8500406

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Summary

This paper addresses the challenge of validating automated vehicle systems, particularly those at SAE Levels 3 and 4, where distance-based validation is economically unfeasible. The authors propose a scenario-based approach aligned with the ISO 26262 functional safety standard. A key problem identified is that different phases of the ISO 26262 V-model development process impose contradictory requirements on scenario representation. Early conceptual phases require human-readable, abstract descriptions, while later testing phases demand precise, machine-readable data. The paper aims to resolve these conflicts by defining a consistent terminology and a structured method for evolving scenarios across three abstraction levels. The authors analyze the requirements for scenarios in three specific phases of the ISO 26262 standard: the concept phase, the system development phase, and the verification/validation phase. In the concept phase, scenarios must be formulated in natural language by experts to define items and conduct hazard analysis. In the system development phase, scenarios must be represented via parameter ranges in a state space to derive technical safety requirements. Finally, in the testing phase, scenarios must be concretized into specific state values to ensure reproducibility and automated execution. The authors derive specific requirements for each phase, highlighting the tension between linguistic abstraction and formal precision. To bridge these gaps, the paper introduces three distinct levels of scenario abstraction: functional, logical, and concrete. Functional scenarios are the most abstract, using a domain-specific linguistic vocabulary to describe entities and their relations (e.g., "car follows truck"). These are used for item definition and hazard analysis. Logical scenarios translate functional descriptions into a state space level, defining entities and relations through parameter ranges and formal notations (e.g., specifying longitudinal position ranges). These support the derivation of technical requirements. Concrete scenarios are the most detailed, selecting specific values from the logical ranges to create consistent, reproducible input data for test cases. The authors demonstrate how scenarios can be systematically converted from functional to logical to concrete levels as the development process progresses. The significance of this work lies in providing a structured, traceable framework for scenario-based development and testing of automated vehicles. By defining clear abstraction levels and conversion methods, the approach ensures that scenarios remain consistent and usable throughout the entire lifecycle defined by ISO 26262. This allows for a systematic derivation of test cases from high-level safety concepts, addressing the need for efficient and economically viable validation of higher-level automation systems. The proposed methodology facilitates a unified understanding of scenarios across different engineering disciplines, supporting both human expert analysis and automated machine processing.

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• situational awareness

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• Applied Guidance: standards test procedures