New Paper! Safety Hazard Identification for Autonomous Driving Systems Fleet Operations in Mobility as a Service
/The paper Safety Hazard Identification for Autonomous Driving Systems Fleet Operations in Mobility as a Service was presented at the Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management conference (PSAM 16), and is now available ta the conference proceedings.
The safe and reliable operation of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) in the context of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) depends on a multitude of factors external to the vehicle's functionality and performance. In particular, it is expected that Level 4 ADS operations are supported by the actions of remote operators, specifically during the initial stages of deployment. In the future, fleet operators are expected to work with one or multiple ADS developers as technology providers to transform their fleets. Therefore, fleet management of ADS vehicles involved in MaaS will play an important role in ensuring traffic safety. In this work, we consider the role of fleet operators as separate entities than ADS developers. Fleet operator functions comprise a fleet operations center (FOC), where the ADS vehicle is monitored and supervised, and a maintenance operations center (MOC), focused on vehicle inspection, maintenance, and storage. Based on a L4 ADS MaaS system breakdown and identification of critical operational stages, we identify operational hazards through Event Sequence Diagram (ESD) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). The analysis highlights the role of the FOC and MOC in ensuring the correct operation of the vehicle and acting as a safety barrier for preventing or mitigating incidents.
