Two-Stage Autonomous Vehicle Planning with Flexibility Scoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current route planning systems for autonomous vehicles face challenges in efficiently navigating through uncharted environments due to limitations in sensor fidelity, particularly in the far field, where measurements are less precise, leading to uncertainty and potential hazards.
Innovation Solution
A two-stage planning method that distinguishes between a near field with high fidelity measurements and a far field with low fidelity, using sensor data to evaluate candidate plans, calculate flexibility scores, and select a composite plan with the highest flexibility score, ensuring viable and resilient trajectories despite sensor uncertainty.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If sensor measurements are used to evaluate far field plans, then navigation capability in uncharted environments is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to low fidelity in far field
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the planning process into two distinct stages: near field planning and far field planning. The near field uses high-fidelity sensor measurements for precise local navigation, while the far field uses low-fidelity measurements evaluated through flexibility scoring. This segmentation allows the system to navigate uncharted environments by treating different spatial regions with appropriate measurement fidelity requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the evaluation parameter from precision-based selection (traditional route planning) to flexibility-based selection (far field plan evaluation). By using flexibility scores that measure adaptability rather than precision, the system can effectively utilize low-fidelity far field measurements to guide navigation in uncharted environments where precise measurements are unavailable.
2Device complexity
If traditional single-stage planning is used, then system complexity is reduced, but adaptability to uncharted environments deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the route planning system into two independent but coordinated stages: near field planning (using high-fidelity measurements) and far field planning (using low-fidelity measurements with flexibility scoring). This segmentation enables the system to adapt to uncharted environments by combining local precision with global adaptability, while maintaining manageable complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary far field plan evaluation using flexibility scores before executing near field planning. By pre-assessing multiple far field candidate plans and selecting those with high flexibility, the system prepares adaptive guidance for uncharted environments in advance, allowing the more complex adaptability computations to be done beforehand rather than in real-time during navigation.
3Reliability
If flexibility scoring is applied to far field plans, then resilience to sensor uncertainty is improved, but computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies flexibility scoring selectively only to far field plans rather than all possible routes. By limiting the computationally intensive flexibility evaluation to only the far field candidate plans (and not the numerous near field path variations), the system achieves resilience to sensor uncertainty in the critical far field region while keeping computational requirements manageable through this partial application approach.
Data Source
AI summary
A plan through a space having a near field and a far field is determined. Using a sensor device, measurements of the far field are obtained and stored in an electronic memory. A processor uses the measurements to determine the viability of each far field plan among a plurality of candidate far field plans. The processor also determines a flexibility score for each of the candidate far field plans and selects a composite plan comprising the viable far field plan having a highest flexibility score among the viable candidate far field plans.