Navigating the winding road to Level 4 certification at GLP ALFALINK Sagamihara
In October 2023, TIER IV secured approval to operate a Level 4 autonomous driving system at GLP ALFALINK Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture. At Level 4, vehicles perform all driving tasks within predefined conditions and environments. The team members who led the evaluation process and development of the vehicle’s AI Pilot system shared their thoughts on the milestone and the next steps ahead.
Yuki graduated from Ritsumeikan University’s Graduate School of Information Science and Technology. Before joining TIER IV, he was involved in the development of an operation management system for autonomous vehicles.
An alumnus of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Shinnousuke currently steers the development of autonomous buses at TIER IV. Before joining the company, he worked in research and development of image recognition technology for medical devices.
Daisuke currently leads product requirement definition and evaluation. After graduating with a degree in Computer Science from the University of Tsukuba, he worked as an embedded engineer and an advanced driver-assistance system development engineer.
ー What are some of the hurdles you faced during the Level 4 certification process?
Yuki: One of the challenges was the fact that there wasn't a clear guide on how to secure the certification. We had to meet safety standards, but the wording of the criteria presented some issues. For example, one states, "The path of other vehicles must not be obstructed." This includes "handling situations when pedestrians suddenly dart into the road," raising the question, up to what speed would a person have to be moving to be considered? And what precisely constitutes an obstruction? There were no standards regarding such issues, which made things difficult.
Shinnosuke: You could say that everything was challenging. The process involved several expert meetings with a government working group looking into autonomous driving on public roads. Many of the issues that arose couldn’t be solved with minor modifications, which was very challenging.
Yuki: And the fact is that some of the modifications we made were actually unnecessary in the end.
Daisuke: For me, the third-party evaluation was tough because we had to work everything out from scratch. I have experience in planning and conducting tests, so the procedures were not a problem. What was tough was having another entity involved in the process, having to deal with things like paperwork.
ー What did the third-party evaluation entail?
Yuki: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism conducts a preliminary review for Level 4 certification. Once the design, specifications, and evaluation plan get the all-clear, the evaluation is conducted by a third-party organization — in this case, the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI). Documents are then submitted to the Ministry of Transport to complete the approval process. Daisuke supervised the whole process.
An autonomous bus at GLP ALFALINK Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture
Daisuke: The Kanto District Transport Bureau's feedback was very detailed.
Yuki: It was indeed. Getting approval from the bureau is the final hurdle, and it’s here that the strictest checks occur.
Shinnosuke: We also ended up running the vehicle at night.
Daisuke: We hadn’t planned to conduct testing at night but we had to present evidence that the vehicle could operate safely after dark. I remember standing at GLP ALFALINK Sagamihara one night taking measurements with an illuminance meter.
Yuki: It was the ideal place because the site is open 24 hours a day.
GLP ALFALINK Sagamihara bus route
ー How did the team overcome the challenges?
Shinnosuke: Mechatronics and various other teams worked efficiently.
Yuki: Team spirit is one of TIER IV’s strengths. The company has assembled a group of people from various units who operate as one cohesive team.
Shinnosuke: Everything was pretty much streamlined. When adding things like new sensors, the mechatronics team helped out, and we consulted with the safety team about the design before implementation. We also had help running tests.
Yuki: It might be difficult for specialists from different technical fields to come up with solutions in a short time frame at big companies, which are usually vertically organized. But at start-ups, that kind of thing happens all the time.
Daisuke: As a team leader, I wasn’t able to be very hands-on. I relied on team members to do the detailed work and organization of materials. The test conditions and the results of evaluations were compiled in consultation with Shinnosuke's team, so that aspect was pretty simple to manage. But when the actual evaluation started, there were still parts that didn't work as expected. In those kinds of situations, Shinnosuke's team provided support on-site and remotely. Smooth coordination among the teams helped.
Yuki: We also had help from our partner VeriServe. TIER IV is great at forging business partnerships. The recently announced L4 V&V evaluation toolkit is a solution we’re pushing in collaboration with such partners.
TIER IV’s L4 V&V is a comprehensive evaluation toolkit for verifying and validating Level 4 autonomous driving functions.
Daisuke: VeriServe is an outsourcing partner that specializes in evaluation and design. They supported us during the procedures with JARI at GLP. We’re trying to get other companies to use their services at the site.
Yuki: That's right. It’d be great if other companies started using TIER IV products via VeriServe. One of our goals was to use the Level 4 certification process to explore business opportunities and create a solid ecosystem. Even though we were in a situation where the requirements were not entirely clear, we were able to navigate through the process because we had specialists in each field who stood up when called upon. The range of skills within the team helped us overcome the challenges. While this is not tech-related, the strength of our government relations team also helped. We’ve shared documentation about the certification process and outlined details of the project at a recent TIER IV meetup event.
ー What lessons can be applied to future projects?
Shinnosuke: It was difficult to set a timeline with the government and others involved. The project ended up taking about a year longer than planned. We're trying to sort out the schedule for the next one so that it doesn’t overrun.
Yuki: The biggest reason for the delay was the lack of a vehicle. In a way, it might have been a boon. Our business gained another branch as a result of the problem. In addition to L4 V&V, our white-label vehicle line-up fanfare was born during the certification process. We had no intention of launching a vehicle, but we didn't have one that met the Level 4 requirements, so we had to make one. We developed the software for the vehicle control system, and before we knew it, we had built an automobile with the help of OEMs and automotive suppliers. Knowledge gained during the design and evaluation led to L4 V&V, and the experience of the vehicle development led to fanfare.
TIER IV’s fanfare white-label EVs
Daisuke: As for other lessons learned, I think evaluation items can be templated to some extent. Efficiency can be improved further by creating a baseline of items and procedures. Once we have that, we only need to focus on the things that fall outside the baseline.
Yuki: Scheduling is also something we’ll have to focus on. The third-party evaluation involves fees for the test course and personnel. Because JARI handles tests for various OEMs, if things don't go as planned their schedule can get crowded, delaying the process and pushing up costs.
Daisuke: We managed to get the third-party evaluation done just in time.
A TIER IV EV bus undergoes tests at Shiojiri Station in Nagano Prefecture.
ー What’s next after Sagamihara?
Yuki: Shiojiri! We’re currently aiming to get Level 4 approval for operations in the Nagano Prefecture municipality.
Daisuke: I think the approval process can be sped up if the focus is on the differences between the projects. If the base vehicle is the same and the operational design domain (ODD) is almost the same or simpler than the previous one, we can use the previous ODD as is. My concern is about the process before the approval for operation on public roads. What if the transport bureau receives a mountain of applications?
Yuki: Once the process has been clearly defined, things will be much smoother.
Daisuke: It took about three weeks just to conduct the third-party evaluation at GLP ALFALINK Sagamihara. Multiply that by 50, and things start to look impossible. [The government has set a goal of having autonomous driving services in 50 locations by the end of fiscal 2025.] I think it's crucial to create a framework that allows for certification through the evaluation of only the differentials or changes. It’d also be helpful if projects for multiple locations could be evaluated in a single application.
Yuki: That sounds like something for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to work on. I heard they’re also looking at ways to speed up the approval process.
From left to right: Shinnosuke, Daisuke, and Yuki at TIER IV’s
office in Shinagawa, Tokyo
ー The team will need to expand as TIER IV works on streamlining the evaluation process. What kind of candidates would be a good fit for the company?
Shinnosuke: So many things need to be considered and tackled in the field of autonomous driving. We like people who are eager to get stuck into all kinds of challenges, rather than sticking to one area of expertise.
Daisuke: We need more people with experience in safety design and evaluation. Requirement engineers are also welcome. I like working with people who are willing to go the extra mile to get the job done.
Yuki: We're always on the lookout for people with a passion for developing safe, functional vehicles, and we welcome expertise from all areas. If you're someone who can identify the necessary steps to achieve our goals, we'd love to hear from you.
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TIER IV is always on the lookout for passionate individuals to join our journey. If you share our vision of making autonomous driving accessible to all, get in touch.
We’re currently hiring for the following related positions:
Software Engineer
Keyword : Autoware、Robotics、Planning/Control、Sensing/Perception、Localization
https://herp.careers/v1/tier4/RqZCzHcwzk1gSystem Engineer
Keyword：System Engineering、SysML/UML、MBS、ISO26262
Vehicle System Engineer
Keyword：AD/ADAS、Functional Safety, EV
https://herp.careers/v1/tier4/xIgqBtHAtvT2Field Integration
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