Autonomous Vehicle Prepositioning for Reliable Rider Pickup
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in efficiently picking up riders due to factors like congestion, parking restrictions, and changing rider locations, leading to delays and inefficiencies, which can result in wasted resources and a negative user experience.
Innovation Solution
The method involves receiving trip information, identifying a boundary for pickup, and prepositioning the vehicle within that boundary to ensure timely pickup, with dynamic adjustments based on location changes and environmental conditions, using a combination of sensors and control systems to manage the vehicle's positioning and navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the autonomous vehicle travels directly to the predetermined pickup location, then the route is simple and direct, but the vehicle may arrive after the rider has left or cannot pick up the rider due to congestion, parking restrictions, or changing rider locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by identifying a boundary around the pickup location in advance and prepositioning the vehicle within this boundary before the rider is ready. This allows the vehicle to be positioned optimally for pickup without traveling directly to a specific spot and waiting, thereby improving pickup reliability while minimizing unnecessary loitering time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the vehicle's position within the identified boundary based on real-time factors such as rider location updates, traffic conditions, and environmental constraints. This dynamic positioning ensures the vehicle maintains optimal pickup readiness without fixed loitering, resolving the contradiction between reliability and time loss.
2Reliability
If the autonomous vehicle loiters or stays close to the pickup location to guarantee timely pickup, then pickup reliability improves, but technical resources such as power and hardware componentry are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepositions the vehicle within a boundary before the rider is ready, rather than continuously loitering. This preliminary positioning ensures the vehicle is close enough for reliable pickup while avoiding prolonged idle periods that would waste energy, thus resolving the contradiction between pickup reliability and power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses rider-provided location information and updates to automatically adjust the vehicle's position, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring and adjustment by human operators. This self-adjusting mechanism ensures energy-efficient operation while maintaining reliable pickup timing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the autonomous vehicle waits at the predetermined pickup location, then the rider can be picked up on time, but the vehicle cannot adapt to changing rider locations or environmental conditions such as congestion and parking restrictions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the pickup location within the identified boundary based on real-time rider location updates and environmental conditions. Rather than waiting at a fixed predetermined location, the vehicle adapts its position to account for changing rider locations, congestion, and parking restrictions, thereby improving adaptability without significant search time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from rider location information and environmental sensors to continuously adjust the vehicle's position and pickup strategy. This feedback mechanism enables the vehicle to adapt to changing conditions while maintaining timely pickup, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and search time.
4Reliability
If the autonomous vehicle uses a 1:1 arrangement assigning one vehicle to one rider, then pickup reliability improves, but resource utilization decreases compared to N:N arrangement
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepositions vehicles within identified boundaries for multiple potential riders simultaneously, rather than assigning one vehicle to one rider in advance. This preliminary positioning for multiple riders allows the same vehicle to serve multiple customers in sequence, improving fleet utilization while maintaining pickup guarantees through advance preparation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables vehicles to serve multiple functions by positioning a single vehicle to potentially pick up multiple riders in an N:N arrangement. The vehicle can be allocated to different riders based on real-time conditions while maintaining the pickup guarantee, thereby improving overall fleet productivity without sacrificing reliability.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C~1D
AI summary
The technology involves pickups of riders by autonomous vehicles in a manner that ensures the rider is picked up within an estimated time of arrival (ETA). For instance, in accordance with customer authorization, the autonomous vehicle may loiter or otherwise stay within a certain proximity (e.g., distance or time) to guarantee rider pickup within a predetermined time. One vehicle may be assigned to a rider for a set timeframe or multiple vehicles may be allocated to a particular event. Either approach may be used to ensure rider pickup with minimal waiting. One benefit is to avoid user-initiated ride requests when the customer is ready to depart a location, because a vehicle will already be present and ready to take the rider to their desired destination. Loitering may include prepositioning a vehicle at a given place, or driving autonomously to be nearby as needed.