Autonomous Vehicle Backup System Testing Under Safe Traffic Conditions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous vehicle systems lack effective methods for safely testing and determining the status of secondary vehicle systems during operations, which are crucial for ensuring redundancy and continuous functionality.
Innovation Solution
A computer system and method that controls a primary vehicle system, requests testing of a secondary system, evaluates traffic conditions, and performs predefined maneuvers to ensure safe and efficient switching between primary and secondary systems, providing improved status determination and increased availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the secondary vehicle system is tested during autonomous vehicle operations, then the status determination of the secondary system is improved, but the safety risk increases due to potential malfunction during active testing
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of traffic situations to identify suitable conditions for secondary system testing. Before activating the secondary system, the autonomous drive control system evaluates whether the current traffic environment is appropriate, ensuring that testing only occurs when safety conditions are met. This preliminary action prevents unsafe testing while enabling status determination.
2Productivity
If the secondary vehicle system is tested during missions, then the availability of the autonomous vehicle is improved, but the operational complexity increases due to system switching requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous drive control system automatically manages the entire process of secondary system testing, including selecting appropriate test opportunities, activating the secondary system, monitoring performance, and switching back to the primary system. This self-service approach handles the operational complexity internally without requiring external intervention, thereby improving vehicle availability through continuous operation while maintaining manageable system complexity.
3Reliability
If the secondary vehicle system is tested during operations, then the redundancy verification is improved, but the test safety conditions become harder to ensure
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors traffic conditions and system performance during secondary system testing, using feedback loops to ensure safety conditions are maintained. The autonomous drive control system receives feedback about the traffic situation and system status, adjusting operations in real-time to preserve safety while verifying redundancy. This feedback mechanism enables reliable redundancy verification without compromising safety.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer system comprising processing circuitry configured to: receive a first vehicle operation command defining a first desired operation of an autonomous vehicle; control a primary vehicle system to perform the first desired operation; send a request for testing a secondary vehicle system being a backup of the primary vehicle system; receive an indication that a present traffic situation is suitable for testing the secondary vehicle system; receive a second vehicle operation command defining a second desired operation of the autonomous vehicle; control the secondary vehicle system to perform the second desired operation; receive a third vehicle operation command defining a third desired operation of the autonomous vehicle; and control the primary vehicle system to perform the third desired operation.