German headquartered testing specialist FEV says it is working on a project to establish a comprehensive methodology for piloting, evaluating and testing automated driving functions.
According to Elmar Boerner, senior group director for ADAS and AD development at FEV, “The scope of the project is primarily focused on SAE Level 3 automated driving functions, along with the addition of select Level 4 functions. Our key objective is to ensure that the functionality of the automated systems is exposed to variable conditions, and that the performance is consistent, reliable and predictable.”
As part of this project, FEV is performing on-highway testing of its own prototype smart vehicle near Aachen, Cologne and Düsseldorf, evaluating functionality such as traffic jam chauffeur. Following an assessment by TÜV Rheinland, the company received approval from the Cologne district government to drive its demonstrator vehicle on predefined public roads up to a maximum speed of 60km/h (37mph) with its in-house-developed traffic jam chauffeur functionality activated.
Throughout the project, FEV says it has also been heavily involved in the cybersecurity and datalogging aspects of AD systems, working with L3Pilot partners to perform cybersecurity threat analyses for Level 3 automated vehicles. This has led to the development of failsafe procedures and strategies to protect against cyberattacks. Additionally, it states it has been actively evaluating datalogging tools for verification and validation of automated driving functions.