Autonomous Vehicle Start Control for Alighted User Safety
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous driving vehicles face challenges in predicting the movement of users who have exited the vehicle, leading to potential accidental contact, as there is no trajectory data available for such users, making it difficult to determine safe start conditions for vehicle movement.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a user detection monitoring device and start control system that maintains the vehicle in a stopped state until a user is detected to have moved out of a defined area or remained stationary for a certain period, ensuring the user is safely clear before allowing the vehicle to start moving.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the autonomous driving vehicle starts moving immediately after the user gets out, then the vehicle's productivity is improved, but the safety of the user is compromised due to inability to predict user movement
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection and monitoring of the user's movement status before permitting the vehicle to start. The user detection monitoring device continuously tracks the user's position and movement state in advance, and only after confirming the user has moved out of the movement determination area or remained stationary for the required period does the start control device allow the vehicle to move, thus ensuring safety before the actual start action occurs
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the user detection monitoring device continuously provides information about the user's position and movement state to the start control device. The start control device receives real-time feedback on whether the user has moved out of the determination area or remained stationary, and adjusts the vehicle start permission accordingly, creating a closed-loop control system that ensures safety
2Reliability
If the autonomous driving vehicle waits for user movement confirmation before starting, then user safety is improved, but the vehicle's productivity deteriorates due to extended waiting time
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial monitoring in that it only tracks specific parameters (user position and movement state) within a defined movement determination area, rather than monitoring all possible user behaviors. This selective monitoring approach reduces the time and computational resources required while still ensuring essential safety conditions are met
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses parameter changes by monitoring the user's position coordinates and movement state over time. When the user's position changes beyond the movement determination area threshold or remains unchanged for the specified time period, the system automatically transitions from a waiting state to a permitted start state, using parameter thresholds to trigger the vehicle start sequence
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous driving vehicle includes a user detection monitoring device and a start control device. The user detection monitoring device detects a user who got out of the autonomous driving vehicle after the autonomous driving vehicle stopped at a destination as an alighted user and monitors the alighted user. The start control device maintains a stopped state of the autonomous driving vehicle after the alighted user was detected until a start condition is satisfied and, if the start condition is satisfied, permits a start of the autonomous driving vehicle. The start condition is one of a condition indicating that the alighted user at least moves out of a movement determination area around the autonomous driving vehicle and a condition indicating that the alighted user is present in the movement determination area but remains at the same position for a certain period of time or longer.