Autonomous Vehicle Seats and Doors With Reduced Swept Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in providing flexible seating configurations and efficient door mechanisms to accommodate various passenger needs and reduce traffic congestion, while ensuring safety and environmental benefits.
Innovation Solution
The autonomous vehicle features configurable passenger seats that pivot to adjust seating orientations and a door assembly with a linkage system that reduces the swept path during opening and closing, allowing for versatile seating arrangements and improved access without obstructing surroundings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the seatback rotates about a pivot point to switch between forward and rear configurations, then the seating orientation flexibility is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the pivot mechanism and seat bottom movement requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The seatback is made dynamically configurable through a pivot mechanism that allows rotation between forward-facing and rear-facing orientations. The seat bottom is also made dynamic with translational movement capability along the longitudinal axis, enabling the seat to adapt its configuration based on operational requirements while maintaining a relatively simple base structure
Solution Approach 2:
The seat is divided into separable functional components: a base, a pivotably coupled seatback, and a translatably connected seat bottom. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall mechanism by distributing functionality across discrete elements rather than requiring a monolithic complex structure
2Area of stationary object
If the door assembly translates along longitudinal and lateral axes with reduced swept path, then the space efficiency and obstacle clearance are improved, but the device complexity increases due to the linkage assembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The door assembly movement is extended from simple single-axis rotation to two-dimensional translation along both longitudinal and lateral axes. This dimensional change allows the door to follow an optimized trajectory that reduces the swept path area and avoids obstacles while the linkage assembly manages the complex multi-axis motion coordination
3Reliability
If the seat bottom moves along the longitudinal axis when the seatback rotates, then the passenger comfort and safety are improved, but the device complexity increases due to the coupled movement mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The seat bottom acts as an intermediary element between the rotating seatback and the vehicle body base. It provides a stable platform for the passenger while accommodating the seatback's rotational movement through its own translational movement along the longitudinal axis, thereby maintaining passenger safety and comfort without directly transmitting the complexity of the rotation mechanism
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous can include one or more configurable passenger seats to accommodate a plurality of different seating configurations. For instance, the one or more passenger seats can include a passenger seat defining a seating orientation. The passenger seat can be configurable in a first configuration in which the seating orientation is directed towards a forward end of the autonomous vehicle and a second configuration in which the seating orientation is directed towards a rear end of the autonomous vehicle. The passenger seat can include a seatback rotatable about a pivot point on a base of the passenger seat to switch between the first configuration and the second configuration. Alternatively, or additionally, the autonomous vehicle can include a door assembly pivotably fixed to a vehicle body of the autonomous vehicle such that a swept path of the door assembly when moving between an open position and a closed position is reduced.