The standardization organization ASAM e.V. has decided to formally split the ASAM OpenSCENARIO standard, which previously existed in two different versions in parallel, into two separate standards. The new versions will be named ASAM OpenSCENARIO XML (formerly V1) and ASAM OpenSCENARIO DSL (formerly V2). ASAM thus meets the requirement of the automotive industry to be able to describe scenarios for different test methods and test environments precisely and efficiently.
ASAM OpenSCENARIO is a cornerstone in the development and validation of automated and autonomous driving systems. The open standard, which is widely used in both simulation and physical environments, makes it possible to describe and exchange complex scenarios. These scenarios describe the behavior of vehicles, pedestrians and other road users, taking environmental influences into account.
Since the release of ASAM OpenSCENARIO V1.0.0, the standard has been continuously developed. Due to the different requirements of various test methods, two ASAM OpenSCENARIO formats have recently been created, which have been published as V1 and V2 and actively developed further. Efforts to merge both formats are not expedient in view of a highly dynamic simulation environment and partly divergent requirements. The formal separation into the standards ASAM OpenSCENARIO XML (formerly V1) and ASAM OpenSCENARIO DSL (formerly V2) enables both standards to be developed consistently and with individual timelines according to their respective use cases.
ASAM OpenSCENARIO XML and DSL for different use cases
The two standards use different methods to describe scenarios and are therefore used for different use cases:
ASAM OpenSCENARIO XML defines an XML schema for the description of scenarios with synchronized driving maneuvers of vehicles, pedestrians and other road users. Among other things, this version supports the specification of precise trajectories with the possibility of parameterizing properties of all components and varying them by the respective executing tool environment. As a structured format, it can be validated, edited, imported and exported by simulation tools and content editors. ASAM OpenSCENARIO XML is designed to support trigger-action scenario descriptions and is optimized for easy machine parsing and processing. ASAM OpenSCENARIO XML is primarily used for the description of predictable, high-precision scenarios that can be used with external test specifications for verification and validation.
ASAM OpenSCENARIO DSL, on the other hand, defines a domain-specific programming language that can be used to describe test scenarios for synchronized maneuvers of vehicles, pedestrians, other road users and Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS) function control. The standard supports the specification of scenarios at a higher level of abstraction as well as KPIs and coverage metrics. It contains built-in abstract road descriptions and enables exploration of the scenario and function space to identify potential unknowns. ASAM OpenSCENARIO DSL is optimized for composability to maximize scenario reuse. It is designed as a V&V programming language and enables a higher level of automated test generation on a large scale. ASAM OpenSCENARIO DSL is therefore intended for large-scale verification and validation applications.