Asymmetric Human Intervention in Automated Vehicle Fleets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated vehicles face challenges in handling exceptional situations that require human intervention, as they are not yet deployed in mature commercial use and lack a centralized system for efficient human operator management, leading to inefficiencies in resource allocation and intervention.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows multiple human operators to remotely monitor and assist a fleet of automated vehicles, dynamically assigning operators based on their skills and availability to address specific vehicle issues, with a queueing and matching system to manage requests and allocate resources effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a human operator is assigned to each automated vehicle for monitoring and intervention, then the vehicle can handle exceptional situations, but the cost and complexity of human resource allocation increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple automated vehicles are merged into a single fleet managed by a centralized system. Instead of having dedicated human operators for each vehicle, the patent combines resource allocation at the fleet level, allowing dynamic assignment of operators to multiple vehicles based on real-time needs. This reduces overall complexity while maintaining intervention capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic resource allocation where human operators can be dynamically assigned to different vehicles based on exceptional situations. The matching system continuously evaluates operator skills, availability, and vehicle needs to optimize assignments in real-time, rather than using static one-to-one pairing.
2Reliability
If human operators continuously monitor each vehicle, then exceptional situations can be detected immediately, but human attention becomes a bottleneck and reduces overall fleet efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The automated vehicles perform self-monitoring and self-reporting of exceptional situations through onboard sensors and systems. Instead of requiring continuous human attention, the vehicles autonomously detect issues and trigger alerts only when intervention is needed, freeing human operators to handle multiple vehicles efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where vehicles continuously report their status to the centralized management system. This automated feedback mechanism ensures exceptional situations are detected immediately without requiring continuous human monitoring, maintaining reliability while improving productivity.
3Productivity
If a centralized remote control system is implemented, then human attention can be spread across multiple vehicles, but the complexity of remote control and communication infrastructure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The remote control system is segmented into modular components: a centralized matching system for resource allocation, vehicle-specific communication interfaces, and operator terminals. This segmentation allows the system to scale across multiple vehicles without proportionally increasing complexity, as each component handles specific tasks independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized management system serves multiple functions: monitoring vehicle status, matching operators to vehicles, coordinating interventions, and managing operator schedules. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized systems, controlling overall complexity while enabling efficient resource allocation across the fleet.
4Speed
If one human operator controls one vehicle, then the operator can respond quickly to situations, but the cost per vehicle and overall resource utilization increase
Solution Approach 1:
The operator-vehicle assignment is dynamic rather than static. A single operator can be dynamically assigned to control multiple vehicles sequentially or simultaneously based on real-time needs. The system optimizes response time by assigning operators to vehicles where their intervention is most urgently needed, rather than maintaining fixed one-to-one pairings.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized management system acts as an intermediary between operators and vehicles. It coordinates operator actions across multiple vehicles, ensuring that even when one operator manages several vehicles, the response time to exceptional situations remains optimal through intelligent routing and task prioritization.
Data Source
AI summary
A bank of available remote human vehicle operators receives service requests to assume control of an automated vehicle via a service queue. The service queue triages remote vehicle control requests based on factors including skill level of available human vehicle operators, urgency of service requests, capabilities of available human vehicle operators, etc. Additional human vehicle operators may join a control session of an automated vehicle as observers and/or assistants to a controlling human vehicle operator. Human vehicle operators may be triaged among ongoing vehicle control sessions depending on the completion of vehicle control tasks and/or emergence of new requests from other automatic vehicles. Automatic vehicles may make service requests to the bank of available remote human vehicle operators including requested capabilities or operator skills based on data sensed regarding the environment of the vehicle.