Connected and autonomous vehicle development and safety

Connected and automated vehicle (CAVs) technologies present significant and potentially transformational opportunities – for society and the individual. It promises safer roads and less congestion, as well as greener and more accessible transport. Indeed, the global CAV market is predicted to reach over £900 bn by 2035. Find out how standards are helping drive progress in connected and autonomous vehicle (CAVs) technology.

Connected and automated vehicle (CAVs) technologies present significant and potentially transformational opportunities – for society and the individual. It promises safer roads and less congestion, as well as greener and more accessible transport. Indeed, the global CAV market is predicted to reach over £900 bn by 2035.

The UK government established the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) in 2015 to shape the safe and secure emergence of CAV technology. BSI is working in partnership with CCAV and the UK CAV Eco-system, organizations involved in trialling CAV technologies, to accelerate the safe and secure deployment of CAVs, starting with trialling and developmental testing. 

Understandably, one of the most important areas of CAV technology progression surrounds user and consumer safety. This is central to gradually building mainstream trust and comfort with the concept, as CAVs will operate with little or no human input.

As a result, much of the recent guidance published to date relates in some way to developing safe systems. For example, PAS 1880, provides a set of initial guidelines focused on developing safe control systems for automated vehicles (AVs).

Similarly, PAS 1881 is designed to assure the safety of related trialling and developmental testing activities alongside CCAV’s own Code of Practice. This specification determines minimum safety case requirements for AV trials and development testing in the UK to demonstrate such activities can be undertaken safely.

PAS 1883, meanwhile, provides a universal taxonomy for specifying the operational design domain (ODD), or intended operating conditions,  of an automated driving system (ADS). The ODD comprises the static and dynamic attributes within which an ADS is designed to function safely. The PAS can help organizations deploying CAV technologies to specify the operating environment of the vehicle in a clear language, prevent confusion, and communicate a shared view of the capabilities of the vehicle (and its limitations).

A further, vitally important, consideration for those in the CAV development ecosystem is cybersecurity. Vehicles are already increasingly connected to infrastructure and the IoT. This trend is set to continue and is particularly important for CAVs.

As technology progresses, vehicles will get smarter and their connectivity and integration with outside systems will deepen. As a result, cybersecurity is a serious focus for all those involved with CAVs.

PAS 1885 outlines key cybersecurity principles in this context, helping users reduce threats and harm to products, services and systems within increasingly connected and collaborative intelligent transport ecosystems (vehicles, infrastructure, and human aspects).

The PAS has been designed to apply to the security and functional safety aspects of the development and use lifecycle, which is important to tackle constantly evolving cybersecurity risks.

Further to this, PAS 11281 aims to help organizations in the CAV ecosystem ensure that their products, services or activities don’t pose unacceptable safety risks, while a new international standard due to publish in 2021, ISO/SAE 21434 Automotive cybersecurity engineering, will help the automotive industry adopt the new UNECE Cyber Security Regulations for Vehicles.

With a rise in the testing and trialling of fully automated or ‘driverless’ vehicles, production vehicles and cars on our roads now are also becoming more intelligent and ‘automated’ with new driver assistance, safety and convenience features sometimes called ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems).

The following standards provide performance requirements and test procedures for such systems to help ensure they are safe for deployment on production vehicles.

It is expected that the automotive industry will see a move from ‘assisted’ driving systems to ‘automated’ driving over the coming years.

View, contribute to and download key free resources including new BSI standards, a CAV vocabulary, information on the latest international good practice (our 'Standards Watch') and other research by visiting our CAV webpage.

Explore the CAV programme

Access key automotive standards with British Standards Online (BSOL)

As the industry goes through its greatest period of innovation for 100 years, with new technologies and safety-critical issues to consider, meeting the relevant standards will be vital for your customers, your supply chain and your competitive edge.

BSOL can provide access to the key standards you need to ensure you stay at the forefront of the automotive innovation, security and operational excellence. Our standards are written with leading industry knowledge and are trusted and used by small businesses globally.

Request a free demo