Scenario Dependency Graphs for Efficient Development of Automated Driving Systems towards Market Entry

In the field of automated driving, scenarios pose a systematic and intuitive way to structure the complex development problem. Their usage was proposed for several domains, such as safety validation, verification, testing, and systems engineering. While those domains are key for a successful development from the technical and systems perspective, the maturity of the technology continuously evolves. This generates the need for a suitable product management in order to realize a successful market entry. We propose, to extend scenario-based development by a product scope description incorporating the business value and development costs for each scenario. The definition of a product on scenario level leads to the questions, how scenarios interdepend from an architectural and technological perspective and how to derive an efficient development order. We therefore introduce scenario dependency graphs, which we assess to be a valuable communication instrument. These graphs can additionally support project planning, monitoring, and control leading to an increased development efficiency and supporting project management towards market entry.