· Operation Design Domain (ODD) is a fundamental to Connected autonomous Vehicle (CAV) safety, as it describes specific operating conditions in which the CAV system can operate safely, including environmental parameters such as weather an infrastructure

· Defining an ODD in a standard way has now been made official thanks to a new international standard concept created the German standards body ASAM and led by WMG at the University of Warwick, which defines the language used to define an ODD

· The new ASAM OpenODD language concept clears the barrier between CAV manufacturers and authorities, so they can find out if the vehicle is allowed to drive within the authority’s area or not and vice versa

An Operational Design Domain (ODD) is fundamental to Connected Autonomous Vehicle safety, however defining an ODD hasn’t been done before, until now, thanks to the work undertaken by German standardisation body ASAM and lead researchers from WMG, University of Warwick.

An Operational Design Domain Definition (ODD) describes specific operating conditions in which the automated driving system is designed to properly operate. It specifies what operating parameters the CAV must be able to manage, for example, weather conditions, infrastructure, location, time of day and everything else that can have an impact on the driving situation. The ODD is thus an important part of the safety concept of a vehicle and must be valid throughout its entire service life for a particular configuration of the CAV.

ASAM, a German standardisation body have been working with WMG, University of Warwick and other international experts to publish a new international standard concept, to develop a language for defining ODDs. They have successfully created a concept for machine-interpretable format to represent the ODD specification. The concept paper can be downloaded free of charge. Additional use cases or requirements can still be proposed before the standard development starts.

Th new format concept enables governments and the automotive industry to access ODD descriptions that are exchangeable, comparable, and processable.

An application example of the effective use of ASAM OpenODD is as follows: A city describes the ODD for its downtown area in the ASAM OpenODD format and makes it available to automotive manufacturers. The manufacturers can then use these descriptions to easily match their vehicles with the defined ODD to find out if their vehicles are allowed to drive in the respective downtown area. They can also use the descriptions to map their scenario test catalogue to the requirements of the ODD. The registration authorities have the benefit of defining ODDs that they can use to check autonomous vehicles. They can also be used to support the development of the ADAS and AD systems, as the use of the ODD can define the testcases that are necessary to validate the vehicle. There can be obvious limitations, for example, if the vehicle is not capable of speeds above 50 km/h highway tests are not necessary. This application of an ODD helps to focus the limited validation resources on the really needed scenarios.

Dr Siddartha Khastgir, from WMG, University of Warwick and project lead for ASAM Open ODD Concept project comments:
“Operational Design Domain definition is key to creating a safe automated vehicle. However, how is an ODD defined hasn’t been officially deemed, until now, as the ASAM OpenODD concept has provided the language to define an ODD.

“This means that going forward CAV manufacturers can define and exchange ODD definitions and authorities can have a common understanding of the ODD definition. I am grateful to all international experts who have contributed to this work. Achieving safety of automated driving needs to be a collaborative effort and ASAM OpenODD is an example of this.”

Peter Voss, Managing Director, ASAM E.V. comments:

"ASAM OpenODD will be a standard that will not only contribute to the safety of automated vehicles, but more importantly, will help to implement automated driving functions faster,".

In addition to the format and syntax, the concept for ASAM OpenODD also takes into account attributes (leveraging ISO 34503), metrics and the representation of uncertainties. The future standard will be compatible with all other standards of the ASAM OpenX family, particularly with OpenDRIVE, OpenSCENARIO and OpenXOntology.

ENDS

1 FEBRUARY 2022

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/medialibrary/images/january_2022/asam.jpg
Caption: ASAM OpenODD
Credit: ASAM

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/medialibrary/images/april2020/sid_39.jpg

Caption: Dr Siddartha Khastgir, from WMG, University of Warwick
Credit: WMG, University of Warwick

ASAM OpenODD Concept: https://www.asam.net/standards/detail/openodd/ 

Recording of webinar: https://www.asam.net/conferences-events/detail/webinar-asam-openodd-concept/

Further resources on understanding ODDs:

What is an ODD (by Nicco Hagedorn, ASAM e.V.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4F5OZlRlaQ 

The Curious Case of Operational Design Domain: What it is and is not?: Blog (by Siddartha Khastgir, WMG): https://bit.ly/CuriousCaseODD

WMG, University of Warwick

WMG is a world leading research and education group, transforming organisations and driving innovation through a unique combination of collaborative research and development, and pioneering education programmes.

As an international role model for successful partnerships between academia and the private and public sectors, WMG develops advancements nationally and globally, in applied science, technology and engineering, to deliver real impact to economic growth, society and the environment.

WMG’s education programmes focus on lifelong learning of the brightest talent, from the WMG Academies for Young Engineers, degree apprenticeships, undergraduate and postgraduate, through to professional programmes.

An academic department of the University of Warwick, and a centre for the HVM Catapult, WMG was founded by the late Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 to help reinvigorate UK manufacturing and improve competitiveness through innovation and skills development.

 

About ASAM e.V.

ASAM e.V. (Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring Systems) is actively promoting standardization within the Automotive Industry. Together with its currently more than 370 member organizations worldwide, the association develops standards in the area of automotive electronic engineering that define interfaces and data models for tools used for the development and testing of electronic control units (ECUs) and for the validation of the total vehicle. ASAM is the legal representative of 35 standards that are applied in the automotive industry worldwide.

(www.asam.net)

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk