Integration and Proving Ground Evaluation of a Connected Highway Pilot System

Highway Pilot (HWP) systems, classified as SAE Level 3 Automated Driving Systems (ADS), represent a potential advancement for safer and more efficient highway drives. In this work, the development of a connected HWP prototype is presented. The HWP system is deployed in a real test vehicle and designed to operate autonomously in highway environments. The implementation presented in this paper covers the complete setup of the vehicle platform, including sensor selection and placement, hardware integration and communication interfaces for both autonomous functionality and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) connectivity. The software architecture follows a modular design, composed of modules for perception, decision-making and motion control to operate in real-time. The prototype integrates Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication, such as Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAM), to enhance situational awareness and improve the overall system behaviour. The modular structure allows new functionalities to be developed and integrated into the same platform, so it becomes a beta testing platform for the early-stage experimentation of innovative features. To validate the prototype, execution of scenario-based testing on a proving ground is used, which is part of the Safety Assurance Framework (SAF), which provides structured methods to help define test scenarios to cover the system’s Operational Design Domain (ODD). Experimental results demonstrate the prototype’s ability to operate in varied highway scenarios.