Testing of autonomous driving systems: where are we and where should we go?

Guannan Lou, Yao Deng, Xi Zheng*, Mengshi Zhang*, Tianyi Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Autonomous driving has shown great potential to reform modern transportation. Yet its reliability and safety have drawn a lot of attention and concerns. Compared with traditional software systems, autonomous driving systems (ADSs) often use deep neural networks in tandem with logic-based modules. This new paradigm poses unique challenges for software testing. Despite the recent development of new ADS testing techniques, it is not clear to what extent those techniques have addressed the needs of ADS practitioners. To fill this gap, we present the first comprehensive study to identify the current practices and needs of ADS testing. We conducted semi-structured interviews with developers from 10 autonomous driving companies and surveyed 100 developers who have worked on autonomous driving systems. A systematic analysis of the interview and survey data revealed 7 common practices and 4 emerging needs of autonomous driving testing. Through a comprehensive literature review, we developed a taxonomy of existing ADS testing techniques and analyzed the gap between ADS research and practitioners' needs. Finally, we proposed several future directions for SE researchers, such as developing test reduction techniques to accelerate simulation-based ADS testing.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationESEC/FSE 2022 - Proceedings of the 30th ACM Joint Meeting European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering
EditorsAbhik Roychoudhury, Cristian Cadar, Miryung Kim
Place of PublicationNew York, NY
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages31-43
Number of pages13
ISBN (Electronic)9781450394130
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Nov 2022
Event30th ACM Joint Meeting European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering, ESEC/FSE 2022 - Singapore, Singapore
Duration: 14 Nov 202218 Nov 2022

Publication series

NameESEC/FSE 2022 - Proceedings of the 30th ACM Joint Meeting European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering

Conference

Conference30th ACM Joint Meeting European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering, ESEC/FSE 2022
Country/TerritorySingapore
CitySingapore
Period14/11/2218/11/22

Keywords

  • Autonomous Driving
  • Empirical Study
  • Software Testing

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