Fault Tolerance and Fallback Strategies in Connected and Automated Vehicles: A Review

Rodríguez-Arozamena, Mario; Matute, Jose; Araluce, Javier; Pérez Rastelli, Joshué; Zubizarreta, Asier

doi:10.1109/OJITS.2025.3583787

Published June 27, 2025 | Version v1

Publication Open

Fault Tolerance and Fallback Strategies in Connected and Automated Vehicles: A Review

1. TECNALIA, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain
2. TECNALIA, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 3500 Transportation Research Plaza, Blacksburg, VA, USA Manuel Lardizabal 13, Donostia / San Sebastián, Universidad de Navarra, Tecnun, Spain
3. TECNALIA, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain
4. CEIT-Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Manuel Lardizabal 15, Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain
5. Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain

Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) are considered the future of transportation, offering increased safety, efficiency, and convenience. However, their reliance on sophisticated sensors and complex algorithms poses challenges, especially in scenarios with uncertainties, constraints, or failures. Dynamic Driving Task (DDT) fallback and fault tolerance strategies serve as critical mechanisms to ensure safe operation when primary systems fail or face functional insufficiencies. This paper provides an analysis of the fault-related taxonomy established by international standards and a comprehensive review of the DDT fallback and fault tolerance strategies used in CAVs, focusing on their strategy, classification, and implementation methods. Moreover, the challenges and future research directions for the development and improvement of fault tolerance strategies are discussed. The analysis shows that the main trends are to avoid the termination of the CAV operation in case of a failure or functional insufficiency, or at least to be able to guide the vehicle to a safe state. However, there is a tendency towards the possibility of continuing the operation. This review contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of DDT fallback and fault tolerance strategies for CAVs and future trends.

Notes (English)

The research leading to this publication has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101069748 — SELFY project. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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