Mainline Automatic Train Horn and Brake Performance Metric
This addresses the need for standardized evaluation in autonomous train safety, but it is incremental as it builds on existing perception frameworks.
The paper proposes a new performance metric for obstacle detection in train perception systems to enable comparison between systems and predict accident numbers, inviting feedback from professionals for further development.
This paper argues for the introduction of a mainline rail-oriented performance metric for driver-replacing on-board perception systems. Perception at the head of a train is divided into several subfunctions. This article presents a preliminary submetric for the obstacle detection subfunction. To the best of the author's knowledge, no other such proposal for obstacle detection exists. A set of submetrics for the subfunctions should facilitate the comparison of perception systems among each other and guide the measurement of human driver performance. It should also be useful for a standardized prediction of the number of accidents for a given perception system in a given operational design domain. In particular, for the proposal of the obstacle detection submetric, the professional readership is invited to provide their feedback and quantitative information to the author. The analysis results of the feedback will be published separately later.