Cognigear
Autonomy Stack Engineering

Behavior Planning & Safety Envelope Engineering

Define site-specific rules of the road, behaviors near humans/equipment, and safety envelopes/geofences.

Timeline
6 Weeks to Value
Typical Engagement
$60k–$160k
Focus Areas
All autonomous machinery

Behavior Planning & Safety Envelope Engineering

Teach your robots the "Rules of the Road" and ensure they never violate physics or safety boundaries.

  • Define deterministic state machines for complex interactions (right-of-way, queuing)
  • Implement dynamic safety envelopes that adjust based on speed and load
  • Ensure predictable, human-readable behavior in mixed-traffic environments

Who this is for

Autonomy Systems Leads, Safety Engineers, and Operations Managers at:

  • Sites with heavy human-machine interaction
  • Operators defining standard operating procedures (SOPs) for autonomy
  • Developers needing to translate "traffic rules" into code

Operational context

This engagement focuses on:

  • Logic – Finite State Machines (FSM), Behavior Trees (BT), Utility-based decision making
  • Safety – RSS (Responsibility-Sensitive Safety), collision checking, geofencing
  • Interactions – Handshakes with other machines, yielding to humans, merging

Trigger phrases you might be saying

  • “The robots get stuck in a standoff at the intersection.”
  • “We need the truck to slow down automatically when it enters the shop.”
  • “The robot drives too close to people; it scares them even if it doesn't hit them.”
  • “We need to encode the site traffic rules into the software.”

Business outcomes

  • Zero "at-fault" logic errors in intersections and shared zones
  • Reduced deadlock frequency improving overall site throughput
  • Increased workforce acceptance due to predictable, polite robot behavior
  • Regulatory alignment by codifying safety rules into the stack

What we deliver

  • Behavior specification document (state diagrams and transition logic)
  • Implementation of Behavior Trees / State Machines for core maneuvers
  • Safety Envelope configuration (stop distances, buffer zones per speed)
  • Geofencing strategy and map layer implementation
  • Deadlock resolution logic design

How it works

  1. Codify – Translate human SOPs and unwritten "tribal knowledge" into logic rules
  2. Design – Build the behavior architecture (Decision Making layer)
  3. Verify – Test logic coverage against edge case scenarios (Scenario-based testing)

Timeline & effort

  • Duration: 5-7 weeks
  • Client time: Interviews with human operators to understand "real" traffic rules
  • Data: Site traffic maps, SOP documents, incident reports

Pricing bands

Fixed-fee: $60k–$160k, depending on:

  • Complexity of site rules (e.g., simplistic loop vs. urban-like city driving)
  • Number of interaction types (vehicle-vehicle, vehicle-human, vehicle-infrastructure)
  • Safety framework requirements (RSS vs. simple buffers)

Tech stack & integrations

  • Frameworks: BehaviorTree.CPP, py_trees, Stateflow
  • Safety Models: RSS (Mobileye), ISO 21448 (SOTIF) concepts
  • Maps: Lanelet2, OpenDRIVE (for semantic rules)

Risks & safeguards

We explicitly design for:

  • Deadlocks – preventing "dining philosophers" problems where 4 trucks wait for each other
  • Liveness – ensuring the robot eventually completes its mission
  • Conservative fallback – failing to a safe state (stop/wait) when logic is ambiguous
  • Predictability – avoiding "erratic" decision switching that confuses humans

Site examples

  • Manufacturing Plant (USA) – Implemented a priority-based intersection manager for 50+ AMRs to eliminate gridlock during shift changes.
  • Construction Site (Asia) – Designed dynamic safety envelopes for excavators that expand/contract based on boom arm position and swing velocity, allowing closer collaboration with dump trucks.

Frequently asked questions

Can you stop the robot from entering unsafe areas? Yes, we implement rigorous geofencing capabilities that function as "virtual walls" in the control software, often backed by a secondary safety controller.

How do you handle unwritten site rules? We spend time observing operations. Often "Rule #1" says stop, but reality is "rolling stop". We help you decide whether to enforce the strict rule or adapt the code.

What is a Safety Envelope? It's a calculated zone around the vehicle that accounts for reaction time and braking distance. If anything enters this zone, safety brakes trigger immediately.

Target KPIs

  • ↑Near-miss rate
  • ↑Deadlock frequency
  • ↑Rule compliance rate (e.g. Stop signs)
  • ↑Time to collision (TTC) margin violations
  • ↑Operator trust score

Deployed Environments

Mixed trafficIntersectionsLoading zones

Ready to start?

Book a 15-minute technical scoping call to discuss your fleet requirements.

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