WeatherSafe: Final Insights on Weather Impact for ADAS & AVs

The WeatherSafe project highlights major advances in understanding the impact of severe weather conditions on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated vehicles. Through a scientific and collaborative approach, it contributes to improving road safety in degraded environments.

Based on the analysis of real-world accidents, six representative scenarios were identified. These highlight the critical role of rain, solar glare, and road surface grip. These scenarios now serve as a reference framework for risk assessment and for testing the solutions developed.

The tests carried out over the three years of the project have also enabled a better characterization of weather conditions and their impact on onboard sensors such as cameras, LiDARs, and radars. These results are essential for improving system reliability in low-visibility conditions.

Furthermore, the project emphasizes the importance of tire–road friction in accident prevention. A more accurate estimation of friction makes it possible to anticipate risky situations and adapt vehicle behavior more effectively.

Finally, virtual sensor modeling proved to be a key enabler for reproducing complex situations. Combined with laboratory and open-road testing, it allows for a comprehensive and robust evaluation of system performance, from controlled environments to real-world conditions.

Towards Guidelines for Future Standards

At the end of the project, five key guidelines were proposed for evaluating safety systems under adverse weather conditions. These recommendations provide a solid foundation for advancing assessment practices and improving the integration of such conditions into existing frameworks.

More broadly, WeatherSafe aims to produce a body of technical and scientific documentation to support future regulations, ISO standards, and NCAP protocols. This work notably focuses on the characterization of weather conditions, testing methodologies, and accident analysis.

Concrete Demonstrations and Ecosystem-Wide Discussions

The project also led to concrete demonstrations illustrating the challenges addressed. In particular, automatic emergency braking (AEB) tests in fog and low-visibility conditions were carried out by APTIV. In addition, comparisons between different spray generation systems, proposed by ASTAZERO and MESSRING, made it possible to assess the most representative testing conditions.

This work was further enriched by roundtable discussions bringing together researchers, industry players, and assessment organizations, including Euro NCAP, fostering high-level exchanges on the future challenges of mobility. The presence of numerous key stakeholders from the automotive ecosystem strengthened both the scope of the discussions and the relevance of the identified perspectives.

A Momentum That Extends Beyond the Project

The closing session highlighted the overall impact of the project and the key insights derived from it. It also paves the way for new initiatives, whether in the form of working groups or industrial projects, aimed at extending and leveraging the results achieved.

By positioning itself as a structuring player, WeatherSafe contributes to the evolution of evaluation and regulatory frameworks, by integrating weather conditions into vehicle and infrastructure safety in a more realistic, measurable, and systematic way.