Autonomous Vehicle Control Prioritization for Abnormality Response

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Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous driving vehicles may not be able to take appropriate action when abnormalities such as accidents or user misbehavior occur, as existing technologies lack effective control mechanisms to handle such situations in real-time.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle control device and system that sets priorities based on risk degree and allowable time for autonomous driving vehicles, allowing for remote control through travel instructions transmitted via a communication network, with the ability to modify instructions based on feedback from an operator.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the autonomous driving vehicle operates autonomously without driver intervention, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability deteriorates when abnormalities occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautonomous operationVSAvoidabnormality handling capability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the autonomous driving vehicle and the remote instruction terminal. When an abnormality occurs, the server receives abnormality information from the vehicle, determines appropriate travel instructions, and transmits them to the remote instruction terminal for operator review. This mediator enables the autonomous vehicle to handle abnormalities reliably by bridging autonomous operation with human oversight.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If multiple travel instructions are transmitted simultaneously to multiple autonomous driving vehicles, then the productivity is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to inability to prioritize critical instructions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstruction transmission efficiencyVSAvoidinstruction prioritization
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by having the server determine and prioritize travel instructions before transmission to remote instruction terminals. The server calculates priority values based on abnormality types and vehicle states, sorts instructions by priority, and transmits them in order. This preliminary prioritization ensures that critical instructions are handled first while maintaining efficient batch processing of multiple vehicles.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If the system waits for operator confirmation before transmitting travel instructions, then the reliability is improved, but the productivity deteriorates due to delayed response

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstruction accuracyVSAvoidresponse speed
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The server performs preliminary determination of travel instructions and their priorities before transmission to the remote instruction terminal. It calculates priority values, sorts instructions, and prepares them for review. This preliminary processing enables the operator to quickly review pre-sorted instructions in priority order rather than processing unsorted instructions sequentially, thus improving response speed while maintaining reliability through operator confirmation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

4Adaptability or versatility

If the system transmits all travel instructions to all autonomous driving vehicles, then the adaptability is improved, but the loss of time increases due to processing overhead

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstruction coverageVSAvoidinstruction processing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by transmitting travel instructions selectively to specific autonomous driving vehicles based on their individual abnormality conditions. The server determines which vehicles require instructions, calculates priority for each, and transmits only relevant instructions to appropriate vehicles. This targeted approach maintains adaptability by addressing each vehicle's specific needs while reducing time loss by avoiding unnecessary transmissions to all vehicles.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3674829B1Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control system
Publication Date: 2024.08.28 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
  • EP3674829B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3674829B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3674829B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A vehicle control device includes a communication unit configured to communicate with a plurality of autonomous driving vehicles configured to perform autonomous traveling, and a processor (34). The processor (34) is configured to, when an abnormality occurs (341) in or around at least one first autonomous driving vehicle among the plurality of autonomous driving vehicles, determine a travel instruction (342) for controlling traveling of the first autonomous driving vehicle, transmit the travel instruction to the first autonomous driving vehicle via the communication unit, set a priority representing the degree of the priority (344) in which an instruction operator is notified of the travel instruction in the order determined according to the content of the abnormality, notify any one of at least one instruction terminal of the determined travel instruction in the order of highest priority, and receive a result of checking the determined travel instruction from the instruction terminal.