Autonomous Driving Action Notification for Smooth Manual Takeover

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Solution Overview

Problem

During autonomous driving, drivers experience anxiety due to lack of information about upcoming vehicle actions, struggle to recognize the surrounding situation, and face difficulties in switching from autonomous to manual driving mode, leading to potential unnecessary interventions.

Innovation Solution

A driving assistance system that provides drivers with detailed information about the vehicle's intended actions and surroundings through a notification unit, allowing for smoother transitions between autonomous and manual driving modes by displaying suitable behavior options based on the current environment.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Extent of automation

If autonomous driving control is implemented with basic current state notification, then automation level is improved, but driver trust and comfort deteriorate due to lack of information about upcoming actions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautonomous driving controlVSAvoidinformation about upcoming vehicle actions
Core Design Contradiction:
Extent of automationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The notification unit displays the scheduled operating state (future action) in advance before the vehicle actually executes it. This allows the driver to know what the vehicle will do next, reducing anxiety and improving trust while maintaining full automation. The system performs the information provision action preliminarily, before the actual driving action occurs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The notification system segments information display into two distinct parts: current operating state and scheduled operating state. This segmentation allows the driver to separately understand what the vehicle is doing now versus what it plans to do, providing comprehensive awareness without overwhelming the driver with undifferentiated information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Device complexity

If only current operating state is displayed during autonomous driving, then device complexity is reduced, but driver response time deteriorates when manual intervention is needed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenotification systemVSAvoiddriver response time for manual intervention
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The notification unit provides scheduled operating state information in advance, allowing the driver to mentally prepare for upcoming actions or potential manual intervention needs. This preliminary information provision reduces the cognitive processing time required when the driver needs to take control, improving response time without adding complex hardware.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If autonomous driving mode operates without predictive information display, then ease of operation is improved for the system, but driver situation awareness deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautonomous driving operationVSAvoidsurrounding situation awareness
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

By displaying the scheduled operating state that reflects upcoming vehicle responses to detected surrounding conditions, the system preliminarily informs the driver about environmental factors and planned reactions. This maintains simple autonomous operation while improving situation awareness through predictive information about vehicle-environment interactions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3738854B1Driving assistance method, driving assistance device using same, automatic driving control device, vehicle, and driving assistance program
Publication Date: 2024.08.14 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • EP3738854B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3738854B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2C
  • EP3738854B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Provided is a technology for improving accuracy in determining the next action. Travel history generator generates, for each driver, a travel history associating an environmental parameter indicating a travel environment through which a vehicle has previously traveled with an action selected by the driver in response to the environmental parameter. Acquisition unit acquires a travel history similar to a travel history of a current driver from among travel histories generated by travel history generator. Driver model generator generates a driver model based on the travel history acquired by acquisition unit. Determination unit determines the next action based on the driver model generated by driver model generator) and an environmental parameter indicating a current travel environment of the vehicle.