Autonomous driving must be reliable and safe. Conventional safety approaches are no longer sufficient in view of the requirements placed on the systems. This was the finding of safety researchers from FH Campus Wien who used an analysis method developed in-house for system safety. The new analysis method was tested in cooperation with partner TeLo GmbH in the company's own Open Track Test Lab (OTTL).
In the case of autonomous driving systems, the sensor system faces particular challenges. It has to recognize the traffic situation in the area quickly, comprehensively and clearly. This is because external disturbances or an incorrectly interpreted event in the vehicle environment can lead to undefined behavior of the vehicle, to standstills, and in the worst case, to accidents.
The procedural model of the Vienna Institute for Safety and Systems Engineering (VISSE) as a competence center for inherent system safety is intended to not only avoid accidents, but also standstills. To achieve this, the researchers define driving scenarios and situations for autonomously driving transport systems, so-called PeopleMovers. These situations are analyzed and tested in TeLo's Open Track Test Lab (OTTL). The results reveal weaknesses and make a decisive contribution to the development of a sensor system that quickly recognizes critical situations and interprets them correctly, whereupon the vehicle evaluates the measured data accordingly and initiates safe driving behavior. The goal is high vehicle availability with maximum safety.
VISSE is currently a partner of ÖBB in the TARO project to develop a simulator that is to be tested in the ÖBB’s Open Rail Lab. VISSE is also involved in the FFG flagship project "iLIDS4SAM" (Integrated LiDAR Sensors for Safe & Smart Automated Mobility). Under the direction of Infineon Technologies Austria, eleven leading Austrian partners from the industry and science sectors are developing a high-performance and cost-effective laser sensor system for autonomous vehicles.
VISSE has been working closely with TeLo GmbH for many years. The Styrian company has many years of experience in machine and system safety and in safety and systems engineering. Ever more sophisticated autonomous systems in the industry and in the mobility sectors are increasing the requirements, but also the need for safety experts. That is why TeLo relies in particular on the know-how from Vienna and on the graduates of the Master’s Degree Program Safety and Systems Engineering. Every year the company sponsors two students from the degree program with scholarships.
"Safety Engineering means knowing, and not believing. We create knowledge through research together with our long-time partners VISSE of FH Campus Wien."
Christian Loidl
Geschäftsführer - TeLo GmbH
TeLo CEO Christian Loidl also promotes research in his corporate practice. One focus is currently on autonomous rail traffic. He set up a 2,500 m² test area, the OTTL (Open Track Test Lab), on the company premises in Gersdorf an der Feistritz in Styria. Here, students from FH Campus Wien, as well as other companies, can conduct and develop situation analyses and test new sensor technologies or logistic PeopleMover concepts on a laboratory scale.
20 years of innovation - 20th anniversary celebration of Department Engineering on November 2019.
