This document provides guidelines for the safe conduct of on-road tests of vehicles equipped with prototype conditional, high, and full (levels 3-5) automated driving systems (ADSs), as defined by SAE J3016. It does not include guidance for testing production ADSs intended for sale to the general public. The scope is further limited to testing of automated prototype vehicles on public roads.
These guidelines do not address:
Testing of driver assist (Level 1) or partial (Level 2) automation systems, which rely on a human driver to monitor the environment. (See SAE J3016 for Definitions of Levels of Automated Systems.)
Closed-course testing.
Component-level testing.
The precise regime of road testing for a particular prototype will depend on the intended level of automation and the targeted capabilities of the prototype (see SAE J3016 for more information).
A prototype suitable for testing on public roadways is presumed to have already passed laboratory and/or closed-course testing, which are not addressed by this document.
Rationale
This document provides general safety-relevant guidelines for performing tests of prototype automated driving systems (ADSs) equipped on test vehicles operated in mixed-traffic environments on public roads. The levels of automation addressed in this document include conditional (level 3), high (level 4), and full (level 5) as defined by SAE J3016; when activated, these ADSs do not rely on a human driver for monitoring and responding to the vehicle or traffic environment. (SAE J3016 defines the italicized terms in this document.) These guidelines apply to the testing of all types of motor vehicles including light-duty, passenger, freight or transit vehicles, but are not concerned with component-level testing. These guidelines address only the safety-related prerequisites for on-road testing and conduct of such tests. They do NOT establish performance criteria or test procedures for production vehicles equipped with ADSs.
Mixed traffic environments are active public roadways, closed campuses (such as military bases, factories, ports, and enclosed communities), and other contexts that involve a risk of injury to road users or damage to their property. These environments will (variously) include motor vehicles of all types and classes, pedestrians, and pedal cyclists, as well as animal and object hazards. Accordingly, these guidelines address analytic, laboratory, simulation, or closed-course test methods only to the extent that these methods are part of, or predicates to, tests of vehicles equipped with prototype ADSs conducted in mixed-traffic environments on public roadways. The guidelines assume that any such tests will be conducted under some form of human supervision; this assumption applies even if the ADS being tested is considered to be a level 5 “full automation” system. Licensing and registration requirements for test vehicles equipped with prototype ADSs should be checked with relevant local jurisdictions. This document also provides guidance on test driver training and test program management; graduated road testing; test data capture; safety override guidelines, and software development and release requirements.
Safety guidelines for the on-road testing of vehicles equipped with prototype ADSs do not currently exist. The information given in this report will assist interested parties in the creation of guidelines for the on-road testing of such prototypes.
The On-Road Automated Driving (ORAD) committee reports to the Driver Assistance Systems Steering Committee of the Motor Vehicle Council. The ORAD committee is responsible for developing and maintaining SAE standards, recommended practices, and information reports related to motor vehicle driving automation system features across the full range of levels of driving automation. "On-road" refers to publicly accessible roadways that provide driving environments for the users of motor vehicles of all classes and all levels of driving automation. However, the ORAD committee will focus primarily on Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) as defined by SAE J3016, namely, levels 3-5 which are capable of performing the complete DDT on a sustained basis while engaged. This includes cooperative automation at these levels. While automated subsystems from other committees will be integrated with automated driving technology, the ORAD committee does not focus on specific subsystems like short-range communication, active safety such as electronic stability control and automated emergency braking or other driver assistance such as lane keeping assistance and cooperative adaptive cruise control. The ORAD committee will coordinate with and contribute to committees and task forces in these distinct areas of expertise.
* Redlines comparisons are available for those standards
listed in the Revision History that contain a radio button. A
redline comparison of the current version against a revision is
accomplished by selecting the radio button next to the standard and
then selecting 'compare'. At this time, Redline versions only exist
for some AMS standards. SAE will continue to add redline versioning
with ongoing updates to SAE MOBILUS.
View/Annotate
Content Loading, Please Wait
Document Preview
Content Loading, Please Wait
Document Comparison
Content Loading, Please Wait
Download
A list of downloadable items.
Product Code
Document Title
File Type
Download
J3018_201503
Guidelines for Safe On-Road Testing of SAE Level 3, 4, and 5 Prototype Automated Driving Systems (ADS)
Export Metadata
This modal will allow the user to download citation information or export specific fields of data into one of three file formats: Excel, comma-separated values, or text.
You are currently not logged into your Dashboard account, which is required for annotating.
Please select Login to login or register for the Dashboard. Select Continue to view the content without the ability to annotate.
Redline Warning
You are currently not logged into your Dashboard account, which is required for annotating.
Please select Login to login or register for the Dashboard. Select Continue to view the content without the ability to annotate.
Data Set Warning
Guidelines for Safe On-Road Testing of SAE Level 3, 4, and 5 Prototype Automated Driving Systems (ADS)
SAE Journal Subscriptions are available in a variety of options, which include electronic, electronic with back file, and archive. For detailed information and options, please complete the following:
Content Request
Check My Access!
You may already have access to the Ground Vehicle Standard, Guidelines for Safe On-Road Testing of SAE Level 3, 4, and 5 Prototype Automated Driving Systems (ADS)
Subscription Access
If you have Subscription Access with a username and password, please login below.
Institutional Login
If you have Institutional Access to SAE MOBILUS, using a predetermined organizational login utilizing single-sign-on (Shibboleth), please login below. To request institutional access to SAE MOBILUS, please complete the institutional subscription information form.
Purchase
If you do not have access to SAE MOBILUS via username/password or institutional access, you can still purchase the Ground Vehicle Standard, Guidelines for Safe On-Road Testing of SAE Level 3, 4, and 5 Prototype Automated Driving Systems (ADS).
Search Tips: Search Operators:AND, OR, NOT; Wild Cards; Using Quotes
SAE MOBILUS® Search Tips
Please note: All terms not contained within quotes, will be evaluated using the OR operator. This means that your search results will contain all results that contain ANY of the entered terms.
AND, OR, NOT
SAE MOBILUS supports the use of the AND, OR and NOT BOOLEAN operators ONLY function with the Advanced Search.
Wild Cards
Using the asterisk, ( * ) allows you to search for a partial word. For example, entering a keyword search of aero* will search for any word beginning with aero.
Using the question mark, ( ? ) allows you to search for a word with a single character wildcard. For example, searching for t?re would match both tire and tyre
Using Quotes
Words in double quotes " " are treated as a phrase. Conducting a search for "heat model" will return all results in which the exact phrase "heat model" is found, while "heat modeling" would NOT be included.
A term combined with a phrase will be joined with an OR operator.
Searching for Standards
When searching for a standard please use the entire Document Number assigned, which includes the abbreviation. A space can be used, or omitted between the abbreviation and number.
