Generating Edge Cases for Testing Autonomous Vehicles Using Real-World Data

In the past decade, automotive companies have invested significantly in autonomous vehicles (AV), but achieving widespread deployment remains a challenge in part due to the complexities of safety evaluation. Traditional distance-based testing has been shown to be expensive and time-consuming. To address this, experts have proposed scenario-based testing (SBT), which simulates detailed real-world driving scenarios to assess vehicle responses efficiently. This paper introduces a method that builds a parametric representation of a driving scenario using collected driving data. By adopting a data-driven approach, we are then able to generate realistic, concrete scenarios that correspond to high-risk situations. A reinforcement learning technique is used to identify the combination of parameter values that result in the failure of a system under test (SUT). The proposed method generates novel, simulated high-risk scenarios, thereby offering a meaningful and focused assessment of AV systems.