Transnational Testing, Operation and Certification of Automated Driving Systems: Perspective from testEPS and Central System EUREKA Projects

Validation and certification enabling the operation of automated vehicles may perhaps be the biggest challenge for the developers of such systems. While there is a consensus about the outstanding problem and the related questions, there is, unfortunately, no widely accepted and feasible solution to this problem. The classical automotive testing and validation approaches for certifying automated vehicles would require several millions of km of on-road testing time and are unfeasible. Simulation techniques can potentially be utilized for this purpose, but the fidelity and modelling accuracy requirements are unknown. This issue is addressed by the two recent sister projects, 'testEPS' and 'Central System', co-funded via the EUREKA network and the Austrian and Hungarian Ministry of Transportation. The current paper aims to introduce both projects together with their respective goals, implementation plans and expected outcomes. They originate from an exploratory phase with initial cross-project cooperation. Due to the joint genesis and unique structure cross-projects synergies effects are expected to be realised to support future verification and validation of ADAS/AD systems, including standardization.