Autonomous Vehicle Intent Display for Predictable Intersection Maneuvers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous vehicles lack effective methods to communicate their state, intent, and context to other drivers, pedestrians, and vehicles, leading to reduced predictability and understanding of their actions and surroundings.
Innovation Solution
The autonomous vehicle employs a suite of sensors to collect environmental data, which is processed to render visual and audio cues on integrated displays and speakers, allowing it to communicate its current state, future actions, and the state of its surroundings to nearby drivers and pedestrians.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If autonomous vehicles operate without communication systems, then device complexity is reduced, but predictability and understanding of vehicle actions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces visual displays and audio speakers as intermediary communication devices that convey vehicle state, intent, and context to surrounding users. These intermediaries translate internal vehicle data into human-understandable visual and auditory signals, improving predictability without requiring complex direct communication protocols between vehicles and pedestrians.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical communication methods (such as physical turn signals and brake lights) with electronic visual displays and audio systems. This substitution allows for more versatile and informative communication while maintaining relatively simple device architecture, as the electronic systems can convey multiple states and intentions through software-controlled visual and auditory outputs.
2Loss of information
If visual and audio communication systems are added to autonomous vehicles, then understanding of vehicle actions is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs visual displays and audio speakers that serve multiple functions: indicating current vehicle state, communicating intended actions, and providing contextual information about the environment. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated communication devices for each type of information, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while maximizing information communication.
3Reliability
If the vehicle communicates detailed state and context information, then predictability improves, but loss of time for processing and transmitting information increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent communicates vehicle intent and planned actions in advance before the vehicle actually executes them. By providing preliminary information about intended maneuvers and contextual factors, the system allows surrounding users to mentally prepare and understand upcoming actions, improving predictability without requiring real-time processing of every detail during critical moments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides communication information into distinct segments: current vehicle state, detected environmental context, and intended future actions. This segmentation allows the system to process and transmit information in manageable chunks rather than as one large data set, reducing overall processing time while maintaining comprehensive communication of vehicle predictability factors.
Data Source
AI summary
One variation of a method for communicating state, intent, and context of an autonomous vehicle includes: at a first time, displaying a first icon representing a current state of a vehicle on a rear-facing visual display arranged on the vehicle; navigating toward an intersection; at a second time, detecting a state of the intersection ahead of the vehicle; rendering a second icon representing the state of the intersection at the second time on the rear-facing visual display; detecting a change in the state of the intersection at a third time succeeding the second time; selecting a next navigation action for the vehicle responsive to the change in the state of the intersection at the third time; prior to executing the next navigation action, rendering a third icon representing the next navigation action on the rear-facing visual display; and autonomously executing the next navigation action.