Autonomous Vehicle Coordination Using Dynamic Reference Distance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fleet management systems face challenges in ensuring consistency and responsiveness among autonomous vehicles and infrastructure facilities, leading to inefficiencies in operation coordination.
Innovation Solution
An integrated management system that defines a reference distance for each autonomous vehicle based on operation information, coordinates vehicles with target objects within a specific distance, and manages operation plans to ensure consistency and responsiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If direct communication is performed between autonomous vehicles and infrastructure facilities, then responsiveness to surrounding conditions and traveling situations is improved, but consistency with other vehicles and operation plans becomes difficult to ensure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a fleet management system as an intermediary that coordinates communication between autonomous vehicles and infrastructure facilities. The FMS manages operation plans and mediates direct communication requests, ensuring that consistency is maintained while allowing responsive local interactions when needed. This resolves the contradiction by providing a higher-level coordination layer that prevents conflicts between individual vehicle-infrastructure communications and overall fleet operation plans.
2Reliability
If instructions are given from the fleet management system to autonomous vehicles based on infrastructure facility information, then operation consistency is improved, but responsiveness is impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic communication architecture where the level of centralization varies based on operational context. The system can switch between centralized FMS control and decentralized direct vehicle-infrastructure communication depending on the situation. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain consistency through centralized planning while enabling responsive local adaptations when conditions require immediate action without FMS intervention.
3Device complexity
If a fixed reference distance is used for vehicle coordination, then system complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different operation conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements variable reference distances that change based on operational parameters such as vehicle speed, type of operation, and environmental conditions. Rather than using a fixed distance threshold for coordination, the system dynamically adjusts the reference distance parameter to match the current operational context. This allows the same coordination mechanism to adapt to different scenarios without requiring multiple complex systems, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing method is implemented by a computer of an information processing system. The information processing system serves to manage operation of autonomous vehicles traveling in a specific area in which one or more target objects are present. The method includes acquiring operation information relating to the autonomous vehicles in the specific area. The method includes defining a reference distance for each of the autonomous vehicles. The reference distance varies with the operation information. The method includes acquiring position information of the autonomous vehicles being traveling. The method includes causing one of the autonomous vehicles and the target object to coordinate with each other. The one of the autonomous vehicles is an autonomous vehicle whose distance to the target object is equal to or less than the reference distance.