Autonomous Vehicle Courier Route Optimization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In courier services, especially with small transport trucks or vans, the existing methods are inefficient as drivers need to repeatedly stop, exit, and walk to deliver items on a single road or multiple contiguous roads, leading to longer walking distances and potential obstruction of traffic, especially when handling heavy or bulky shipments.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows the motor vehicle to autonomously determine the most efficient operation mode based on a stored task plan, deciding whether to remain parked or drive to a nearby stopping point, minimizing walking distance and time, and optimizing route efficiency by considering walking routes, available stopping points, and task specifics, using sensors and navigation software to manage vehicle movement and parking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the driver repeatedly stops, exits, and walks to deliver items at each address, then delivery tasks can be completed, but walking distance and time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle acts as an intermediary base that moves autonomously to optimal positions along the delivery route. Instead of the driver walking to every address, the vehicle serves as a mobile intermediary point where the driver can efficiently access items and return to, reducing total walking distance while maintaining delivery capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically determines the vehicle's stopping positions along the route based on real-time considerations such as upcoming delivery locations, road geometry, and delivery priorities. This dynamic positioning optimizes the balance between vehicle movement and driver walking distance, adapting to changing delivery requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the driver parks the vehicle at every address to complete deliveries, then item access is convenient, but traffic obstruction increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of parking at every single address (excessive action), the system applies partial action by selecting only certain optimal stopping points along the route where the vehicle will pause long enough for the driver to access items. Between these stopping points, the vehicle moves autonomously without full parking, reducing traffic obstruction while maintaining operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomously moving vehicle serves as a mobile intermediary that brings the cargo close to the delivery addresses without requiring full parking at each location. This intermediary approach allows the driver to access items with minimal walking while the vehicle remains in motion or temporarily stopped, reducing continuous traffic obstruction.
3Measurement precision
If the driver manually controls the vehicle to every delivery location, then delivery accuracy is ensured, but operational time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle performs self-service by autonomously navigating to optimal stopping points and moving along the delivery route without continuous manual driver control. This self-service capability maintains delivery location accuracy through automated navigation systems while significantly reducing the time the driver needs to spend manually operating the vehicle.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the level of automation based on delivery requirements. For routine positioning and transit between addresses, autonomous control is used to save time. For final approach to specific delivery locations, the system can transition to manual control to ensure precision, creating a dynamic hybrid operation mode that optimizes both speed and accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for operating a motor vehicle when the driver thereof needs to accomplish a series of tasks (such as delivery and/or pick-up of items) along a route that each require the driver to park the motor vehicle, to leave it and to cover certain distances on foot. The motor vehicle is able to operate both under the control of a human driver aboard the motor vehicle or autonomously without driver intervention. When the driver parks the motor vehicle for the purpose of task accomplishment, an electronic plan of the tasks is checked to determine whether it is more efficient for task accomplishment if the driver returns to the motor vehicle at the first parking location or if the vehicle drives autonomously to a next stopping point situated in the direction of travel and the human driver walks to meet it at the next stopping point.