NEWS IN BRIEFS:

The University of Antwerp will collaborate with NIST to develop tools for use by industries producing partially or fully automated systems. These tools will be based on NIST advances in the area of cyber-physical systems or IoT, including its Cyber-Physical Systems Framework and emerging concepts like an Operating Envelope Specification for automated driving system safety measurement. The partners will collaborate to implement prototype tools using NIST’s co-simulation tool, the “Universal CPS Environment for Federation,” or UCEF.

Ensuring the safety of automated systems is a clear industry challenge. Previous testing strategies focused on systems where human operators were involved. However, automation reduces, and may even eliminate, human involvement, demanding new approaches to testing and, ultimately, safety assurance.

Hans Vangheluwe © mcgill.ca

Prof. Hans Vangheluwe of the Modeling, Simulation and Design Lab at the University of Antwerp, has agreed to collaborate with NIST cyber-physical systems researchers to install and use NIST’s UCEF co-simulation infrastructure and NIST’s Cyber-Physical Systems Framework to develop tools for CPS/IoT design, test, and assurance. This approach has the potential to assist in identifying the range of engineering concerns related to safety. By identifying critical concerns and their interdependencies, developers can more holistically determine and address the full spectrum of engineering requirements.

UCEF’s co-simulation infrastructure will further aid automated driving system (ADS) testing and design exploration. UCEF makes possible the evaluation of components and the overall cyber-physical system, or systems-of-systems. UCEF integrates existing, best-in-class simulators, and allows them to interact. In the case of ADS safety, UCEF co-simulations will be structured to assess safety concerns by providing data that help developers and testers address intended system behaviors and identify unintended system behaviors with safety implications