Autonomous Route Planning With Adjustable Passage Width Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous travel devices face challenges in determining appropriate minimum passage widths for navigating narrow passages, which are influenced by vehicle size, sensor accuracy, and travel control precision, making it difficult for experts to calculate and set optimal passage widths for specific site conditions.
Innovation Solution
The autonomous travel device includes a selection unit for choosing from multiple passage width options based on different degrees of freedom, and a route search unit that avoids narrow passages relative to the selected option by adjusting map information to include inhibition zones, allowing for safer route planning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the minimum passage width is set narrowly to allow more routes, then route flexibility improves, but the risk of contact with obstacles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the minimum passage width adjustable rather than fixed. The control unit allows modification of the minimum passage width based on different situations, enabling the system to adapt between prioritizing route flexibility or safety depending on the operational context. This resolves the contradiction by allowing both narrow passages (for flexibility) and wide passages (for safety) to be accommodated through parameter adjustment.
2Reliability
If the minimum passage width is set widely to ensure safety, then the risk of contact with obstacles decreases, but the number of available routes is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system resolves this contradiction through dynamic adjustment of the minimum passage width parameter. When safety is prioritized, a larger minimum passage width is set, excluding narrow passages from route search. When route flexibility is needed, the parameter can be reduced to include narrower passages. This dynamic parameter adjustment allows the system to optimize between safety and route availability based on operational requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple passage width options are provided for adjustment, then adaptability to different site conditions improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by providing multiple discrete options for the minimum passage width parameter (first, second, and third options with progressively larger widths). This allows users to select appropriate parameters for different site conditions without requiring complex calculation systems. The control unit simply accepts the selected parameter value and applies it to the route search, achieving high adaptability through simple parameter selection rather than complex control logic.
Data Source
AI summary
An aspect of an autonomous travel device includes a selected unit configured such that one option is selected from a plurality of options corresponding to each of a plurality of passage widths having mutually different degrees of freedom of movement allowed for travel through a passage, and a route search unit configured to search for, on the basis of map information, a travel route that avoids passages that are narrow relative to the passage width corresponding to the selected option.