Edge Case Research Provides Technical Leadership for the First Comprehensive Autonomous Product Safety Standard (UL 4600)
By: Michael Wagner, CEO & Philip Koopman, CTO, Edge Case Research
Edge Case Research is proud to provide technical expert leadership for
UL 4600, “Standard for Safety for the Evaluation of Autonomous Products.” The standard is intended to cover the entire scope of software and computer-based system safety for fully autonomous self-driving cars (e.g., SAE Level 4 vehicles) as well as some other types of autonomous products. A draft standard will be available to a technical review panel in Spring 2019, with publication expected by the end of 2019.
The standard addresses the need for novel technical and safety standard approaches to accommodate autonomy. This includes dealing with AI technology such as machine learning, as well as helping to ensure the safety of vehicles that do not have a driver to handle unusual situations and equipment failures. It will also fulfill a need for a non-prescriptive, goal-based approach to ensuring an appropriate level of safety across the entire vehicle lifecycle regardless of the vehicle design approach.
The subject matter experts contributing to the draft standard are
working to incorporate best practices from numerous industries:
- Lead Author: Dr. Phil Koopman, CTO, Edge Case Research. (Experience
in automotive, industrial control, consumer appliance, rail, and autonomy safety. Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University.) - Uma Ferrell, qualified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Designated Engineering Representative (DER), and Systems Engineer at MITRE.
- Frank Fratrik, Lead Engineer, Edge Case Research. (Experience in defense system safety.)
Additional contributions are being made by a team of safety standards experts from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) led by Deborah Prince, Standards Process Manager at UL.
The Standards Technical Panel for UL 4600 is currently being formed. Interested stakeholders should contact Deborah.Prince@ul.com to apply
for membership.
To review the UL 4600 fact sheet and get the latest updates, visit www.ecr.ai
