Autonomous Solutions
Autonomous Solutions
As a Safety Driver, Site Lead at AstaZero, and Team Lead for the Transport Mission & Vehicle Testing Group, Priscilla Hornman-Speelman plays a critical role in ensuring the success of autonomous vehicle technology. Her passion for vehicles started young—racing go-karts at just six years old—and today, that passion continues both in her work at V.A.S. and on the racetrack, where she competes in the Supercar Challenge. One of her most significant projects has been the Brønnøy Kalk project where Priscilla was involved from initial runs with a safety driver to fully driverless operations.
The Transport Mission & Vehicle Testing Group is responsible for verifying and validating autonomous vehicle technology before it’s deployed without a human driver. Safety drivers like Priscilla are essential in this process. There are three main areas the safety driver focuses on during autonomous missions:
1. Monitoring Vehicle Behavior and Navigation
Safety drivers ensure that autonomous trucks operate as intended—following predefined maps, avoiding obstacles, and executing tasks like loading and unloading with precision.
2. Intervening When Necessary
While autonomous systems are designed to handle various driving scenarios, safety drivers must be ready to take control when unexpected issues arise, such as mechanical failures and software glitches
“From my experience, this only really happens during the initial testing stages as the system improves over time,” Priscilla notes.
3. Testing and Providing Feedback
Safety drivers work closely with developers and engineers, offering real-time insights on system performance. Since they are inside the vehicle, they create a fast feedback loop that helps identify and resolve issues quickly.
The most significant challenge in this role is maintaining the perfect balance between trust and vigilance. The safety driver has to be focused on the road and the way the truck is moving, trusting the truck to do its job, but always being alert and ready to take over if something unexpected happens. The balance lies in not taking over too soon, but making sure the self-driving mission does not end in the ditch. While the goal is to build confidence in the autonomous system, safety drivers must always be prepared to intervene and not become complacent over time.
“It’s really rewarding to identify and report bugs that need to be fixed and then get to observe how the system improves over time based on the feedback that I have provided,” Priscilla says. Safety drivers are a key information source to improve the self-driving vehicles by identifying bugs and reporting them, iterating to develop autonomous trucks with safety at the core. As autonomous vehicle technology continues to advance, safety drivers will remain essential in bridging the gap between cutting-edge innovation and real-world deployment.
