Controlling Concurrent Change - A Multiview Approach Toward Updatable Vehicle Automation Systems

The development of SAE Level 3+ vehicles [{SAE}, 2014] poses new challenges not only for the functional development, but also for design and development processes. Such systems consist of a growing number of interconnected functional, as well as hardware and software components, making safety design increasingly difficult. In order to cope with emergent behavior at the vehicle level, thorough systems engineering becomes a key requirement, which enables traceability between different design viewpoints. Ensuring traceability is a key factor towards an efficient validation and verification of such systems. Formal models can in turn assist in keeping track of how the different viewpoints relate to each other and how the interplay of components affects the overall system behavior. Based on experience from the project Controlling Concurrent Change, this paper presents an approach towards model-based integration and verification of a cause effect chain for a component-based vehicle automation system. It reasons on a cross-layer model of the resulting system, which covers necessary aspects of a design in individual architectural views, e.g. safety and timing. In the synthesis stage of integration, our approach is capable of inserting enforcement mechanisms into the design to ensure adherence to the model. We present a use case description for an environment perception system, starting with a functional architecture, which is the basis for componentization of the cause effect chain. By tying the vehicle architecture to the cross-layer integration model, we are able to map the reasoning done during verification to vehicle behavior

Towards Autonomous Aviation Operations: What Can We Learn from Other Areas of Automation?

Rapid advances in automation has disrupted and transformed several industries in the past 25 years. Automation has evolved from regulation and control of simple systems like controlling the temperature in a room to the autonomous control of complex systems involving network of systems. The reason for automation varies from industry to industry depending on the complexity and benefits resulting from increased levels of automation. Automation may be needed to either reduce costs or deal with hazardous environment or make real-time decisions without the availability of humans. Space autonomy, Internet, robotic vehicles, intelligent systems, wireless networks and power systems provide successful examples of various levels of automation. NASA is conducting research in autonomy and developing plans to increase the levels of automation in aviation operations. This paper provides a brief review of levels of automation, previous efforts to increase levels of automation in aviation operations and current level of automation in the various tasks involved in aviation operations. It develops a methodology to assess the research and development in modeling, sensing and actuation needed to advance the level of automation and the benefits associated with higher levels of automation. Section II describes provides an overview of automation and previous attempts at automation in aviation. Section III provides the role of automation and lessons learned in Space Autonomy. Section IV describes the success of automation in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Section V provides a comparison between the development of automation in other areas and the needs of aviation. Section VI provides an approach to achieve increased automation in aviation operations based on the progress in other areas. The final paper will provide a detailed analysis of the benefits of increased automation for the Traffic Flow Management (TFM) function in aviation operations

Precise vehicle location as a fundamental parameter for intelligent selfaware rail-track maintenance systems

The rail industry in the UK is undergoing substantial changes in response to a modernisation vision for 2040. Development and implementation of these will lead to a highly automated and safe railway. Real-time regulation of traffic will optimise the performance of the network, with trains running in succession within an adjacent movable safety zone. Critically, maintenance will use intelligent trainborne and track-based systems. These will provide accurate and timely information for condition based intervention at precise track locations, reducing possession downtime and minimising the presence of workers in operating railways. Clearly, precise knowledge of trains’ real-time location is of paramount importance. The positional accuracy demand of the future railway is less than 2m. A critical consideration of this requirement is the capability to resolve train occupancy in adjacent tracks, with the highest degree of confidence. A finer resolution is required for locating faults such as damage or missing parts, precisely. Location of trains currently relies on track signalling technology. However, these systems mostly provide an indication of the presence of trains within discrete track sections. The standard Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), cannot precisely and reliably resolve location as required either. Within the context of the needs of the future railway, state of the art location technologies and systems were reviewed and critiqued. It was found that no current technology is able to resolve location as required. Uncertainty is a significant factor. A new integrated approach employing complimentary technologies and more efficient data fusion process, can potentially offer a more accurate and robust solution. Data fusion architectures enabling intelligent self-aware rail-track maintenance systems are proposed

Handbook of Emergency Management For State-Level Transportation Agencies, MTI Report 09-10

The Department of Homeland Security has mandated specific systems and techniques for the management of emergencies in the United States, including the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System, Emergency Operations Plans, Emergency Operations Centers, Continuity of Government Plans and Continuity of Operations Plans. These plans and systems may be applied to the state-level transportation agency�s disaster response systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Specific guidance and management techniques are provided to aid emergency planning staff to create DHS-compliant systems

Implementation and Development of Vehicle Tracking and Immobilization Technologies

Since the mid-1980s, limited use has been made of vehicle tracking using satellite communications to mitigate the security and safety risks created by the highway transportation of certain types of hazardous materials. However, vehicle-tracking technology applied to safety and security is increasingly being researched and piloted, and it has been the subject of several government reports and legislative mandates. At the same time, the motor carrier industry has been investing in and implementing vehicle tracking, for a number of reasons, particularly the increase in efficiency achieved through better management of both personnel (drivers) and assets (trucks or, as they are known, tractors; cargo loads; and trailers). While vehicle tracking and immobilization technologies can play a significant role in preventing truck-borne hazardous materials from being used as weapons against key targets, they are not a & ”silver bullet.” However, the experience of DTTS and the FMCSA and TSA pilot projects indicates that when these technologies are combined with other security measures, and when the information they provide is used in conjunction with information supplied outside of the tracking system, they can provide defensive value to any effort to protect assets from attacks using hazmat as a weapon. This report is a sister publication to MTI Report 09-03, Potential Terrorist Uses of Highway-Borne Hazardous Materials. That publication was created in response to the Department of Homeland Security´s request that the Mineta Transportation Institute´s National Transportation Security Center of Excellence provide research and insights regarding the security risks created by the highway transportation of hazardous materials