Designing Autonomous Vehicles for Safety and Sustainability

Learn how to design autonomous vehicles using a requirements-driven approach that aligns system development with user needs, safety goals, and regulatory standards. Through persona-based analysis, real-world use cases, and traceability tools, learners will define and validate AV requirements that support personalized and inclusive mobility. The course highlights universal accessibility, ethical design, and how artificial intelligence supports these goals through enhanced perception, decision-making, and adaptability.

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of AV systems, emphasizing the integration of perception hardware, intelligent software stacks, and AI-driven decision-making to enable safe and scalable autonomy. Learners will examine the technical foundations of AV design alongside critical topics such as accessibility, inclusive user experience, regulatory frameworks, and ethical responsibility. With a strong focus on human-centered design and infrastructure readiness, the course prepares participants to develop AV technologies that serve diverse users and operate harmoniously within complex transportation ecosystems.

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of safety assurance strategies for autonomous vehicles, emphasizing the intersection of cybersecurity, AI-driven safety mechanisms, and industry regulations. Learners will gain practical insights into encryption, secure authentication, and safe data handling, while also delving into the robustness and interpretability of machine learning models. Topics include hazard identification, redundancy, operational design domain testing, and frameworks like ISO 26262, RSS, and SOTIF. By combining theoretical foundations with real-world case studies, the course equips students with the knowledge to ensure reliability, resilience, and ethical responsibility in AV development.

Gain a solid foundation of various aspects of sustainability within the automotive sector. Explore topics such as differences between vehicle types, current environmental impacts, pathways to improve the sector, and energy infrastructure in Canada.