# The Safety Shell: an Architecture to Handle Functional Insufficiencies in Automated Driving

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.08413 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.08413/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 20 Oct 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Integrating End-to-End and Modular Driving Approaches for Online Corner Case Detection in Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.01178/) (2024)
- [A Systematic Literature Review on Safety of the Intended Functionality for Automated Driving Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02498/) (2025)
- [Towards Safer Autonomous Driving in an Open World: A Dual-Process Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.04088/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

To enable highly automated vehicles where the driver is no longer a safety backup, the vehicle must deal with various Functional Insufficiencies (FIs). Thus-far, there is no widely accepted functional architecture that maximizes the availability of autonomy and ensures safety in complex vehicle operational design domains. In this paper, we present a survey of existing methods that strive to prevent or handle FIs. We observe that current design-time methods of preventing FIs lack completeness guarantees. Complementary solutions for on-line handling cannot suitably increase safety without seriously impacting availability of journey continuing autonomous functionality. To fill this gap, we propose the Safety Shell, a scalable multi-channel architecture and arbitration design, built upon preexisting functional safety redundant channel architectures. We compare this novel approach to existing architectures using numerical case studies. The results show that the Safety Shell architecture allows the automated vehicle to be as safe or safer compared to alternatives, while simultaneously improving availability of vehicle autonomy, thereby increasing the possible coverage of on-line functional insufficiency handling.