Safety concept for autonomous vehicles that operate in pedestrian areas

The research field of Autonomous Vehicles is a large domain that requires a safe development and integration of many types of different systems. Mechanical-, electronically — and software components have to come together. An important aspect in this integration is the fail-safety of technical components and the system as a whole. Another aspect is the safety in case of interactions with traffic participants, which act in an unpredictable way. This paper presents a safety concept for autonomous vehicles in which responses to technical errors are considered, as well as responses to unpredictable changes in the environment. The purpose is to avoid any kind of injuries that might occur due to technical or human errors. The vehicle is designed for operating in crowded pedestrian areas driving at step speed (maximum speed of 6 km/h).