Research Center for Supervision, Safety and Automatic Control

Safe Coordination of Autonomous Vehicles (CICYT) [SaCoAV]

The SaCoAV project is a competitive R&D&I initiative focused on researching new methods and tools to ensure the safe coordination of autonomous vehicles in urban environments. With a budget of €244,420, it is being developed between September 1, 2021 and August 31, 2024 under the direction of the Department of Systems Engineering, Automation, and Industrial Computer Science, and is funded by the State Research Agency within the framework of the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020. State Research Agency - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Project Description

Autonomous vehicles are complex systems that must operate safely and in coordination in real-time, considering the presence of other vehicles, people, roads, and obstacles. While advances in this field have made great strides in the safety and control of individual autonomous vehicles, the coordination of multiple autonomous vehicles remains an unresolved challenge. This project aims to address this issue, as efficient coordination could reduce traffic and pollution, as well as facilitate the effective implementation of mobility solutions.

The project combines two key concepts:

  1. Development of algorithms to coordinate the movements and activities of connected autonomous vehicles in urban environments.
  2. Integration of safety and cybersecurity mechanisms to ensure the proper functioning of vehicles in error situations, unforeseen changes, or malicious attacks on communication links.
Specific Objectives
  1. Develop algorithms to coordinate multiple vehicles, considering aspects of safety and cybersecurity.
  2. Incorporate learning mechanisms in the developed coordination strategies.
  3. Create algorithms to detect security issues, including events and failures during coordination.
  4. Develop technologies to identify vulnerabilities in communications due to cyber-attacks.
  5. Propose algorithms that reconfigure coordination actions in response to security or cybersecurity issues.
  6. Apply the algorithms in realistic coordination scenarios involving multiple vehicles such as drones, mobile robots, and autonomous cars.
Scope and Impact

The SaCoAV project is part of the State R&D&I Program Aimed at Societal Challenges, within the Research Challenges: R&D&I Projects call, and aligns with Challenge 4: Sustainable, Intelligent, Connected, and Integrated Transport. The objective is to advance research in model-based control, security, and cybersecurity to ensure more sustainable and safer transport.

The project's results will not only contribute to the technological development of autonomous vehicles but also address social and technical aspects to promote their integration into real-world environments.

  • Scope: State administration
  • Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles, Coordination, Control, Safety, Cybersecurity
  • Project Code: PID2020-114244RB-I00

This project represents an important step for the future of intelligent transport, supported by collaboration between national and international expert teams.