Vehicle software shadow mode testing

A test-optimizing system for supporting shadow mode testing of automated driving system, ADS, software comprised in an ADS-provided vehicle, the test-optimizing system comprising:

• at least one processor configured to:
• retrieve one or more potential vehicle routes;
• obtain, for a geographical area covering the one or more potential vehicle routes, data of crucial locations associated with past vehicle situations identified as at least one of critical and challenging;
• retrieve respective operational design domain, ODD, for one or more candidate software respectively adapted to run in a background of the vehicle;
• determine ODD-compliant locations for respective candidate software, by identifying locations out of the data of crucial locations lying within the ODD of the respective candidate software;
• determine at least a first test-compliant location along at least a first route out of the one or more potential vehicle routes, by identifying for at least a first candidate software, locations out of the ODD-compliant locations, situated along the at least first route;
• determine, with support from a positioning system, a geographical position of the vehicle along a route selected out of the at least first route;
• and
• activate, in the background of the vehicle, the one or more candidate software out of the at least first candidate software, when the vehicle position is within at least one of a predeterminable distance of and a time range from the at least first test-compliant location.

A non-transitory computer storage medium storing a computer program containing computer program code configured to cause one of a computer and a processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

• retrieving one or more potential vehicle routes;
• obtaining for a geographical area covering the one or more potential vehicle routes, data of crucial locations associated with past vehicle situations identified as at least one of critical and challenging;
• retrieving respective operational design domain, ODD, for one or more candidate software respectively adapted to run in a background of the vehicle;
• determining ODD-compliant locations for respective candidate software, by identifying locations out of the data of crucial locations lying within the ODD of the respective candidate software;
• determining at least a first test-compliant location along at least a first route out of the one or more potential vehicle routes, by identifying for at least a first candidate software, locations out of the ODD-compliant locations, situated along the at least first route;
• determining with support from a positioning system, a geographical position of the vehicle along a route selected out of the at least first route;
• and
• activating in the background of the vehicle the one or more candidate software out of the at least first candidate software, when the vehicle position is within at least one of a predeterminable distance of and a time range from the at least first test-compliant location.