Date of Award

6-1-2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Zachary D. Asher, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Richard Meyer, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Guan Yue Hong, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

Thomas Bradley, Ph.D.

Keywords

Autonomous vehicles, controls, lane keeping, localization, resilience engineering, system performance

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles are expected to revolutionize the transportation industry by providing a safer and more efficient means of transportation. However, as autonomous vehicles are deployed on public roads, they are exposed to significant risks, both in terms of safety and system performance. Recent studies have highlighted a range of errors and accidents associated with autonomous vehicles, underscoring the need for a systematic approach to improve their operational resilience. Resilience engineering, a discipline focused on designing and analyzing complex systems to better cope with unexpected events and disruptions, offers a promising framework for addressing these challenges. Despite the potential benefits of resilience engineering, there is a research gap in the application of this approach to autonomous vehicles. This dissertation aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of resilience engineering on the operational performance of autonomous vehicles. To achieve this, three different research questions with various focuses will be addressed to identify (1) system performance of control strategies using resilience engineering (2) system performance of a perception system in simulation and in the real world, and (3) development of non functional system requirements informed by resilience engineering of a lane keeping system. The first pair of studies explore the impact of resilience engineering of classical and AI based controllers. The second pair of studies explore the impact of resilience engineering on evaluating system performance of perception systems in simulation and in the real world. Lastly, the third study explores the effect of applying resilience engineering principles in the development of non functional system requirements for a lane centering system. This collection of studies will yield a clear path for the application of resilience engineering principles to autonomous vehicles for the design process, system requirements and operational requirements to improve system performance.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

Download

Share

COinS