Autonomous Vehicle Door Exit Control via Local Status Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous vehicles lack an efficient mechanism to safely allow passengers to exit while operating in autonomous mode, relying on remote systems that can be latency-prone and resource-intensive.

Innovation Solution

A computer-implemented method and system that detects passenger-initiated actions on vehicle doors, such as unlocking and opening, to control the vehicle's deceleration and stopping, enabling safe exit without remote system dependency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If remote systems are used to control vehicle door status and passenger exit safety, then centralized control and monitoring are improved, but latency and computational resource consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepassenger exit safety controlVSAvoidsystem latency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the door status monitoring and passenger exit safety control functions from the remote server and implements them locally on the vehicle's computing system. This local execution eliminates the latency associated with remote communication while maintaining safety control capabilities, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and time loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The vehicle's computing system acts as an intermediary between the door status sensors and the vehicle control systems. It locally processes door status changes and triggers appropriate vehicle actions (such as preventing acceleration or controlling door operation) without requiring remote server intervention, thereby reducing latency while maintaining safety.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If remote systems are used to monitor and control vehicle door status, then centralized oversight is improved, but computational resources are consumed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedoor status monitoringVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the computationally intensive door status monitoring and analysis functions from the remote server and executes them locally on the vehicle's computing system. This distribution of computational load reduces the energy consumption of the remote server while maintaining reliable monitoring capabilities through local processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The vehicle's computing system performs self-service by autonomously monitoring door status changes and determining appropriate vehicle actions without requiring continuous remote server involvement. This local autonomous operation reduces computational resource consumption at the remote end while maintaining reliable monitoring.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Speed

If the vehicle immediately responds to door unlock status, then passenger exit responsiveness is improved, but false activation from accidental touches is increased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresponse speedVSAvoidfalse activation rate
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary monitoring of door status changes and evaluates whether they represent intentional passenger actions before triggering vehicle responses. By anticipating and evaluating the intent behind door status changes in advance, the system responds quickly to genuine exit attempts while filtering out false activations from accidental touches.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from multiple door status change detections to determine whether a passenger intentionally wants to exit. By monitoring whether door status changes occur within a predetermined time window and evaluating the pattern of status changes, the system distinguishes between intentional actions and accidental touches, responding only to genuine exit requests.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3600936B1Method and system for safe passenger exit from autonomous vehicle
Publication Date: 2021.04.14 UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC
  • EP3600936B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3600936B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3600936B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Systems and methods for controlling an autonomous vehicle based on a passenger-initiated action are provided. In one example embodiment, a computer implemented method includes detecting, by one or more computing devices on-board an autonomous vehicle, a first status change of a vehicle door. The first status change is associated with a first user action associated with the vehicle door. The method includes detecting a second status change of the vehicle door. The second status change is associated with a second user action associated with the vehicle door. The method includes determining one or more vehicle actions based at least in part on at least one of the first status change or the second status change associated with the vehicle door. The method includes providing one or more control signals to one or more systems on-board the autonomous vehicle to implement the vehicle actions.