Revising the documentation for the OpenSCENARIO standard for dynamic components of driving simulations

Working with parson for the next development iteration of the ASAM OpenSCENARIO standard is probably one of the best steps ASAM could have taken to increase the quality and usability of the standard. Their superb guidance to the project group on forming the content, bringing it all together and filling in the gaps have led to a much stronger set of documentation than V1.0. I hope to work with the parson team again in the next set of ASAM standardization projects to keep improving the quality of the content we release.

Benjamin Engel, Global Technology Manager, ASAM e.V.

Goals and results

ASAM maintains and develops the open file format OpenSCENARIO, which describes the dynamic content of driving and traffic simulations. ASAM wanted to extend and standardize the existing documentation, adapt it to the ASAM document structure, and revise the documentation in terms of language.

As a service provider with many years of experience in the documentation of technical standards and information architecture, parson played a key role in revising the OpenSCENARIO documentation for ASAM. We were able to draw on experience from other projects that we carried out for ASAM, including the information architecture, terminology and writing rules defined in them.

The ASAM GitLab platform was used to collaborate with the OpenSCENARIO subject matter experts.

Our services in detail

  • Apply the ASAM information architecture

  • Standardize existing content in terms of language and structure

  • Document technical changes in the OpenSCENARIO standard

  • Create new content for the OpenSCENARIO user guide based on input from the subject matter experts

  • Apply terminology rules for the specification

  • Determine and maintain terminology

Insights

1) Apply the standardized document structure

Apply standardized document structure
Figure 1: Document structure developed by parson (left) and its application by OpenSCENARIO (right)

2) Write a specification topic using the developed sequence pattern

Sequenz pattern for specification topics developed by parson (left) and its application by OpenSCENARIO (right)
Figure 2: Sequenz pattern for specification topics developed by parson (left) and its application by OpenSCENARIO (right)

3) Apply writing rules

Agreed writing rules for modal verbs (left) and its application by OpenSCENARIO (right)

Figure 3: Agreed writing rules for modal verbs (left) and its application by OpenSCENARIO (right)

About ASAM e.V.

ASAM (Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring Systems) is a consortium that promotes the standardization of development and test systems in the automotive industry. Members include automobile manufacturers, automotive suppliers, software producers, engineering service providers and research institutes in the automotive sector.