Autonomous Vehicle Gesture Recognition for Ride Hailing Intent
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ride-sharing systems require users to initiate a mobile application, which can be inconvenient in inclement weather, when devices lack service or battery, or when users wish to hail a ride spontaneously, as they must expose their device and wait for location acquisition and destination input.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous vehicle equipped with sensor systems like lidar, radar, and image sensors that can detect user gestures to hail a ride, process these gestures to identify travel characteristics, and adjust its operation accordingly, including facial recognition for user identification and probabilistic inference of intentions based on context.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a mobile application is used to hail a ride, then the ride-hailing function can be performed, but the user must expose the device to inclement weather and wait for location acquisition and destination input
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical interaction of using a mobile application (typing, tapping, waiting for processing) with an optical/gestural interaction system. Image sensors capture gestures made by the user, and the system automatically interprets these gestures to determine ride-hailing intent and destination, eliminating the need for manual device operation and reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically detecting the user's gesture, interpreting the intended destination, and initiating the ride-hailing process without requiring the user to manually input location or destination information. The autonomous vehicle itself performs the service of understanding user intent through gesture recognition.
2Ease of operation
If a mobile application is used to hail a ride, then the ride-hailing function can be performed, but the device must have service and power to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces dependence on electronic devices (mobile phones requiring service and power) with a gesture recognition system using image sensors. This substitution eliminates the reliability issues associated with mobile devices being unavailable due to lack of service or power, while maintaining the ease of hailing a ride.
3Measurement precision
If the autonomous vehicle decreases velocity to identify gesture, then gesture identification accuracy improves, but travel time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by decreasing velocity only temporarily and only when a gesture is detected, rather than maintaining reduced velocity continuously. This allows the vehicle to balance gesture identification accuracy with overall travel efficiency, minimizing time loss while ensuring accurate gesture recognition when needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables users to hail an autonomous vehicle through intuitive gestures, allowing for spontaneous ride requests without device exposure or service requirements, while considering user identity, location, and context to determine accurate travel destinations.
Implementation Method 1
Exemplary sensor systems include, but are not limited to, a lidar sensor system
Implementation Method 2
a radar sensor system
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous vehicle is described herein. The autonomous vehicle is configured to determine that a person is proximate the autonomous vehicle at a location that is external to the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle is further configured to determine that the person is attempting to hail the autonomous vehicle through use of a gesture. The autonomous vehicle identifies the gesture being performed by the person, and responsive to identifying the gesture, identifies a travel intent that the person is imparting to the autonomous vehicle by way of the gesture. The autonomous vehicle then operates based upon the travel intent.