📋 Tender Overview
Grant agreement ID: 101292651
DOI
10.3030/101292651
EC signature date
9 February 2026
Start date
1 March 2026
End date
31 December 2027
Description:
Autonomous driving technology is advancing rapidly and attracting strong interest from public and private sectors. However, developing software that can reliably ensure safe lane-level driving behaviour remains a major challenge. Correct-by-construction approaches can address this with the design of control systems that guarantee safe behaviour from the outset. The ERC-funded CertiLane project aims to develop an innovative automatic lane change planner and controller, along with machine-checkable evidence to improve timing and safety. The project will match correct-by-construction methods with an efficient and thorough toolchain.
Objective
Autonomous driving keeps advancing, yet one obstacle persists: building lane-level behaviors whose software is provably safe. In current practice, requirements are written in natural language, interpreted inconsistently, and implemented with ad-hoc heuristics. Human error and limited test coverage leave edge cases unaddressed, while mileage-heavy validation is slow and costly. The result is fragile behavior and eroded public trust. Building on our research project AutoCPS, we will turn correct-by-construction methods into a product focused on a single high-impact feature: a certifiable Automatic Lane Change capability.
The goal is an Automatic Lane Change planner and controller accompanied by machine-checkable evidence for safety and timing, plus explicit operating assumptions. Requirements are captured as formal, reviewable rules; software is then automatically synthesized and delivered with certificates and runtime monitors for safety cases. Validation proceeds in stages: first in the MORAI driving simulator, then on a scaled roadway, and finally on an instrumented vehicle with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin. The toolchain reuses and hardens assets from our prior work—pFaces for compute acceleration, PIRK for predicting safe envelopes around other actors, AMYTISS for handling uncertainty, and OmegaThreads for compiling temporal rules.
End users are planning, safety, and verification teams at car makers and suppliers. The outcome is a licensable kit generating verified Automatic Lane Change software and certificates, with optional integration support. This proof of concept will (i) deliver the prototype and evidence package; (ii) quantify reductions in validation mileage and computing effort; (iii) complete a freedom-to-operate and intellectual-property plan; and (iv) secure early-access partners. Success will demonstrate a proof-driven alternative to mileage-based validation, improve road safety, and open a path to a family of certifiable functions beyond lane change.
