Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Authentication for Early Boarding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in identifying and safely allowing passengers to board before reaching the designated pickup location due to the absence of a human driver, leading to confusion and disruption in transportation efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle's computing devices actively look for assigned passengers within a predetermined distance of the pickup location using sensor data from the perception system, authenticate the client device, and adjust the vehicle's stopping and boarding process to facilitate early passenger entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the vehicle stops early to wait for the passenger before reaching the pickup location, then the passenger boarding speed is improved, but traffic disruption and confusion increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle performs preliminary actions by slowing down and positioning itself near the pickup location before the passenger is fully ready. The system proactively monitors the passenger's approach and prepares for boarding in advance, allowing the vehicle to stop early and wait for the passenger without causing significant traffic disruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle dynamically adjusts its speed and stopping behavior based on real-time detection of the passenger's location and movement. The system continuously monitors sensor data to determine when to slow down, stop, or maintain speed, optimizing the balance between early boarding and traffic flow.
2Measurement precision
If the vehicle uses sensor data to actively search for passengers before reaching pickup location, then passenger identification accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The perception system, originally designed for general environmental awareness and safety, is repurposed to also detect and identify passengers before reaching the pickup location. This multi-functional use of existing sensors avoids adding dedicated passenger detection hardware, thereby maintaining system simplicity while improving identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle's existing perception system serves dual purposes: maintaining safety awareness and identifying approaching passengers. The system uses its own sensory capabilities to monitor for passengers, eliminating the need for separate dedicated detection systems.
3Reliability
If the vehicle waits for authenticated passenger within threshold distance, then boarding safety is improved, but boarding time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle performs preliminary authentication of the passenger's client device before the passenger physically reaches the vehicle. This advance authentication ensures that when the passenger arrives within the threshold distance, boarding can proceed quickly and safely without delays for verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the passenger's approach and authentication status, providing real-time feedback to adjust the vehicle's behavior. When the authenticated passenger enters the threshold distance, the system immediately initiates the stopping and boarding sequence, minimizing waiting time while maintaining safety.
Data Source
AI summary
The technology relates to actively looking for an assigned passenger prior to a vehicle 100 reaching a pickup location. For instance, information identifying the pickup location and client device information for authenticating the assigned passenger is received. Sensor data is received from a perception system of the vehicle identifying objects in an environment of the vehicle. When the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the pickup location, authenticating a client device using the client device information is attempted. When the client device has been authenticated, the sensor data is used to determine whether a pedestrian is within a first threshold distance of the vehicle. When a pedestrian is determined to be within the first threshold distance of the vehicle, the vehicle is stopped prior to reaching the pickup location, to wait for the pedestrian within the first threshold distance of the vehicle to enter the vehicle.