Method for transporting hazardous and / or sensitive freight by means of an autonomous vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for transporting hazardous and / or sensitive freight by means of an autonomous vehicle (1), wherein a database (2) containing restrictions and / or requirements for categories of freight is created and / or used, wherein the vehicle (1) or an autonomous driving system (3) of the vehicle (1) retrieves the restrictions and / or requirements that are relevant to a particular category of the freight to be transported on a planned route, wherein the vehicle (1) or the autonomous driving system (3) proactively monitors compliance with the restrictions and / or requirements during transportation.

Description

[0001] Method for transporting dangerous and / or sensitive cargo using an autonomous vehicle

[0002] The invention relates to a method for transporting dangerous and / or sensitive cargo by means of an autonomous vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0003] Sensitive and dangerous goods are often transported by land. Strict regulations and guidelines exist from various authorities regarding the transport of such goods, such as the ADR (International Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road), the United Nations' Orange Book of Dangerous Goods, and the United States Department of Transportation.

[0004] According to the guidelines and restrictions imposed, certain categories of goods can only be transported in accordance with local laws and regulations. This includes not only restrictions on speed and acceleration, but also on the routes to be used and the measures to be taken in the event of an accident.

[0005] While conventional freight transport requires drivers to be sufficiently trained to know and follow the rules, an autonomous vehicle, especially an autonomous commercial vehicle, requires the driving system to be informed about the category of goods, the required restrictions and guidelines, and the situation-specific emergency measures. This may also include special route planning, for example, to avoid tunnels, if required by law.

[0006] Known systems for monitoring the transport of dangerous and sensitive goods are based on the following assumptions:

[0007] Vehicles are always driven by humans. A warning can be issued reactively after certain thresholds have been exceeded, without causing any damage.

[0008] Human drivers can easily correct all parameters, including acceleration and speed, if they are already above the thresholds.

[0009] These assumptions do not apply in the following cases:

[0010] The vehicle carrying the cargo is driven by an autonomous driving system. The conditions do not allow the driver to reactively correct the driving parameters. For example, if another vehicle is following at high speed, the driver cannot safely brake immediately, even if the vehicle is already operating above the thresholds for acceleration or speed.

[0011] The human driver may make a mistake, such as being inattentive or misinterpreting the warnings.

[0012] DE 102021 001 391 A1 describes a method for adapting the route of an autonomously driving vehicle, preferably an autonomously driving transport vehicle, in which the route to be traveled by the vehicle is changed when a hazardous situation occurs on the intended route by adapting the route depending on the hazardous situation. In a method in which the safety of the vehicle is improved when hazardous situations occur, the danger to the vehicle posed by the hazardous situation is assessed by the vehicle depending on the load to be transported by the vehicle, and based on the assessment, measures to secure the load are automatically initiated.

[0013] The invention is based on the object of providing a novel method for transporting dangerous and / or sensitive cargo by means of an autonomous vehicle.

[0014] The object is achieved according to the invention by a method for transporting dangerous and / or sensitive cargo by means of an autonomous vehicle having the features of claim 1.

[0015] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims. In a method for transporting dangerous and / or sensitive cargo using an autonomous vehicle, a database containing restrictions and / or requirements for cargo categories is created and / or used. According to the invention, the vehicle or an autonomous driving system of the vehicle retrieves the restrictions and / or requirements relevant for a specific category of cargo to be transported on a planned route from the database, with the vehicle or the autonomous driving system proactively monitoring compliance with the restrictions and / or requirements during transport.

[0016] In one embodiment, in the event of an accident or incident, relevant cargo information is transmitted from the vehicle or autonomous driving system to a competent authority.

[0017] In one embodiment, restrictions and / or requirements include a permitted acceleration, a permitted speed, a permitted transport period, route restrictions, contact information to competent authorities in case of emergency, specific parameters regarding the condition of the goods and / or temperature and / or pressure limits for that category of goods.

[0018] In one embodiment, in order to prepare a journey of the vehicle, the category of goods to be transported is fed as input to the autonomous driving system.

[0019] In one embodiment, the autonomous driving system plans the trip according to the category of cargo to be transported.

[0020] In one embodiment, the database contains vehicle-related and transport-specific parameters extracted from legal or regulatory requirements for the respective category, including regional variations of the categories of goods and the parameters or restrictions required therefor.

[0021] In one embodiment, to prepare the autonomous vehicle for the journey, information regarding a destination and / or information regarding the cargo and, optionally, a trailer or semi-trailer is passed to the autonomous driving system as input. In one embodiment, information regarding restrictions and / or requirements for the selected cargo category is retrieved from the database specifically for at least one geographical region through which the route runs, fed to the autonomous driving system, and taken into account when planning the journey.

[0022] In one embodiment, the autonomous driving system alerts a remote monitoring center when a threshold violation of the restrictions and / or requirements occurs and the autonomous vehicle cannot correct this condition itself, in particular when a temperature of the cargo exceeds a limit despite running cooling systems.

[0023] In one embodiment, in the event of an emergency situation, cargo-specific information is transmitted to the authority along with product-specific emergency response information.

[0024] According to the present invention, a preconfigured setup is used. The autonomous driving system is informed of the type of dangerous or sensitive cargo and the required regulations for transporting this cargo in a specific geographical area. The autonomous vehicle can then drive according to the required regulations, including route planning, behavior, and driving parameters, so that the required conditions are proactively met. The autonomous vehicle can also alert the relevant authorities in an emergency and proactively transmit the necessary documents and information.

[0025] The inventive solution proactively complies with all required restrictions and regulations for the transport of dangerous and sensitive goods. Therefore, there is never a risk of exceeding safety thresholds. The inventive solution can be deployed in any geographical location without requiring additional steps or training, provided the legal restrictions and regulations are available.

[0026] Embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to drawings.

[0027] Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of an autonomous vehicle and a database, and

[0028] Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a method for operating the autonomous vehicle.

[0029] Corresponding parts are provided with the same reference numerals in all figures.

[0030] Figure 1 is a schematic view of an autonomous vehicle 1, for example a commercial vehicle, and a database 2.

[0031] According to the present invention, a method is provided in which a database 2 containing categories of dangerous and / or sensitive goods and restrictions for their respective transport is created or used. The database 2 can be located in the vehicle 1 or outside the vehicle 1, for example, in a cloud. Such restrictions can include, for example, permitted acceleration, permitted speed, permitted running time, route restrictions, and contact information for the relevant authorities in the event of an emergency.

[0032] During the preparation of a journey of the vehicle 1, a type or category of goods to be transported is selected in a step S1, which are fed into an autonomous driving system 3 of the vehicle 1.

[0033] The autonomous driving system 3 extracts the restrictions for these specific goods to be transported from the above-mentioned database 2 and plans the trip accordingly.

[0034] During the journey, vehicle 1 or its autonomous driving system 3 monitors and proactively complies with all requirements for transporting the dangerous and / or sensitive goods to the destination.

[0035] In the event of an accident or unplanned incident during the journey, legally relevant data is detected by vehicle 1 or its autonomous driving system 3 and, if necessary, transmitted to the responsible authority. The information on dangerous and / or sensitive goods in database 2, in particular regulations and requirements for the transport, storage, packaging, and handling of dangerous and / or sensitive goods, is defined by specific regulatory authorities in different geographical areas. For example, ADR generally defines nine types of dangerous goods classes for most of Europe, with each type assigned a four-digit UN number with the associated requirements. Information on route restrictions is also available in database 2.For example, all major tunnels in Europe are divided into different classes, from A (least restricted) to E (most restricted). Certain goods are prohibited from being transported in certain classes of tunnel. Database 2 will therefore contain vehicle-related and transport-specific parameters extracted from such regulations. This includes regional variations in the types of goods and the parameters or restrictions required for them, for example, journey-specific parameters, acceleration and / or speed restrictions, route restrictions, contact information and data to be provided to the competent authorities in an emergency for each type of goods, specific parameters regarding the condition of the goods, and temperature and / or pressure limits for that type of goods.Database 2 may be configured to add additional parameters if necessary for safe operation and compliance.

[0036] When preparing the autonomous vehicle 1 for a journey, information regarding the destination is passed as input to the autonomous driving system 3. In special cases, information regarding the cargo and, optionally, a trailer or semi-trailer is also passed as input to the autonomous driving system 3. For dangerous and / or sensitive cargo, the class of the goods is also passed as input to the autonomous driving system 3. Information regarding the special restrictions and regulations for these goods for the respective specific geographical region is then retrieved from the aforementioned database 2 and fed to the autonomous driving system 3, where it is then used to plan the journey. During this phase, special instructions can also be provided optionally, for example, to avoid even small potholes in the case of extremely sensitive cargo.

[0037] While the autonomous vehicle 1 transports the cargo to its destination, the autonomous vehicle 1 or its autonomous driving system 3 monitors all required parameters by means of a number of appropriately configured sensors (e.g., at least one accelerometer, temperature gauge, pressure gauge and / or inclinometer as described in US7391311B2, CN201909965U, CN102069769B, which are hereby fully incorporated by reference into the present application) and proactively complies with all relevant safety guidelines and regulations, for example with regard to acceleration, deceleration, vibration (e.g., as described in DE102020003213A1, which is hereby fully incorporated by reference into the present application), speed limits or route restrictions.The autonomous driving system 3 can, if necessary, alert a remote monitoring center if a threshold value is violated and it cannot correct this condition itself, for example if the temperature of the cargo exceeds a limit value despite the cooling systems being running.

[0038] There are special protocols for specific dangerous and / or sensitive goods in the event of an accident or potentially hazardous incident. For example, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act in the USA requires that information such as shipping documents, along with product-specific emergency response information, be submitted to the authorities in the event of an emergency situation. For the autonomous vehicle 1, this information has already been extracted from the database 2 described above, so that in the event of a detected collision or accident, all required information can be immediately transmitted to the responsible authority.

[0039] Figure 2 is a schematic view of the method according to the invention. In step S1, the type or category of goods to be transported is selected, which are fed into the autonomous driving system 3 of the vehicle 1.

[0040] In a step S2, the autonomous driving system 3 checks whether information for the selected type or category of goods is available in the database 2. If this is not the case, an error message is output in a step S3, for example, in the vehicle 1, on a mobile device, or to the remote monitoring center. If the specified information is available in the database 2, it is extracted from the database 2 in a step S4 and fed to the autonomous driving system 3 in a step S5. List of reference symbols Vehicle Database Autonomous driving system

[0041] Step

Claims

Patent claims 1. A method for transporting dangerous and / or sensitive cargo by means of an autonomous vehicle (1), wherein a database (2) with restrictions and / or requirements for categories of cargo is created and / or used, characterized in that the vehicle (1) or an autonomous driving system (3) of the vehicle (1) retrieves the restrictions and / or requirements relevant for a specific category of cargo to be transported on a planned route, wherein the vehicle (1) or the autonomous driving system (3) proactively monitors compliance with the restrictions and / or requirements during transport.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that in the event of an accident or incident, relevant information on the cargo is transmitted from the vehicle (1) or from the autonomous driving system (3) to a competent authority.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the restrictions and / or requirements used are a permitted acceleration, a permitted speed, a permitted running time, route restrictions, contact information to the competent authorities in the event of an emergency, specific parameters relating to the condition of the goods and / or temperature and / or pressure limits for this category of goods.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in order to prepare a journey of the vehicle (1), the category of goods to be transported is fed to the autonomous driving system (3) as input.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the autonomous driving system (3) plans the journey according to the category of the cargo to be transported.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the database (2) contains vehicle-related and transport-specific parameters extracted from legal or regulatory provisions for the respective category, including regional variations of the categories of goods and the parameters or restrictions and / or requirements required therefor.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, in order to prepare the autonomous vehicle (1) for the journey, information regarding a destination and / or information regarding the cargo and optionally a trailer or semi-trailer is transferred as input to the autonomous driving system (3).

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information regarding the restrictions and / or requirements for the selected category of freight is obtained from the database (2) specifically for at least one geographical region in which the route runs, is fed to the autonomous driving system (3) and taken into account when planning the journey.

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the autonomous driving system (3) alerts a remote monitoring center if there is a violation of a threshold value with regard to the restrictions and / or requirements and it cannot correct this condition itself, in particular if a temperature of the cargo exceeds a limit value despite running cooling systems.

10. Method according to one of claims 2 to 9, characterized in that in the event of an emergency situation, cargo-specific information is transmitted to the authority together with product-specific emergency response information.

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