Chongqing - "Undoubtedly, the next three years will be a critical period for the deployment of high-level intelligent and connected vehicles," stated Prof. Li Jun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of China SAE, during the 5th FISITA Intelligent Safety Conference China (ISCC) held in Chongqing in 2023.

ISCC 2023 brought together top experts from 13 countries, including six academicians from China and abroad, for in-depth discussions on the frontier and key technologies of Level 3 and higher-level advanced autonomous driving safety. The conference saw participation from over 400 global delegates.

Prof. Li also highlighted the important step taken by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China in expressing explicit support for the commercial deployment of Level 3 and higher-level autonomous driving.

Prof. Li Jun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of China SAE. (Photo/ISCC 2023)

"The safety of autonomous vehicles has become a global focus, necessitating the accelerated advancement of intelligent safety driving technologies and strengthened international exchange and cooperation to provide a protective umbrella for intelligent vehicle safety," emphasized Wang Shuxin, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Chongqing University.

Wang further underscored the technical challenges autonomous vehicles face in perception, measurement, and validation, which combine traditional safety issues with new concerns, presenting new challenges for intelligent vehicle safety.

Constructing an intelligent and connected vehicle safety system from three levels

At the social ecology level, Prof. Li proposed establishing autonomous driving safety certification standards and regulatory specifications for high-level intelligent and connected vehicles under government leadership.

He advocated integrating Smart Cities, Smart Transportation, and Smart Vehicles into a social ecology platform. This platform would implement an integrated technology solution of V2X communication to provide comprehensive safety guarantees for autonomous driving.

At the industry platform level, collaborative actions for autonomous driving safety among OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers should be implemented, according to Prof. Li. Joint research on autonomous driving safety architectures should be conducted, and unified standards and specifications for the development and certification of autonomous driving safety systems should be established. These efforts ensure the healthy development of the high-level intelligent and connected vehicle industry.

Integrating functional safety, Safety of the Intended Functionality (SOTIF), and cybersecurity technologies is crucial at the Technical system level. Prof. Li proposed the construction of an independent safety domain controller equipped with a parallel architecture to the autonomous driving domain controller.

This safety domain controller would incorporate functions like "driving safety state monitor" and "driving safety enhancement." The goal is to establish a "monitor-prevent-control-manage" technical platform for the safety of autonomous driving processes, providing comprehensive safety protection throughout the entire lifecycle of intelligent and connected vehicles.

International efforts toward constructing autonomous driving safety systems

Prof. Li continued that, for instance, the United Kingdom has established the PAS series standards for autonomous driving and its safety in Europe. In the U.S., the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed the CARMA platform to support the safe operation of cooperative autonomous driving.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated the Intersection Safety Challenge (ISS) competition project to verify the important role of artificial intelligence, 5G, and V2X in ensuring the safety of vehicles at intersections and for vulnerable road users.

Wang Shuxin, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Chongqing University. (Photo/ISCC 2023)

Wang emphasized the global focus on the safety of autonomous vehicles and the necessity of international cooperation and consensus-building. As one of the pilot units for the National Elite Institute of Engineering, Chongqing University actively leverages its comprehensive strengths in disciplines, talents, and platforms.

Collaborating with leading institutions from various sectors, the university conducts doctoral and postdoctoral training and key research on artificial intelligence, next-generation information and communication technology, intelligent connected vehicles, and innovative robotics applications.