Remote Assistance Control for Autonomous Vehicle Rerouting

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous vehicles may encounter traffic situations that contradict their programming, necessitating human intervention for route adjustments, especially in scenarios like lane closures or construction zones, where direct human oversight is not always possible.

Innovation Solution

An autonomous vehicle service system comprising a display device, receiver, and controller that monitors data from autonomous vehicles and third-party road conditions, determines when assistance is needed, and displays information to operators to facilitate route updates, allowing for remote intervention and prioritization of vehicles requiring assistance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If autonomous vehicles operate with full automation without human intervention, then productivity and efficiency are improved, but reliability deteriorates when encountering traffic situations counter to programming

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautonomous vehicle operation efficiencyVSAvoidvehicle routing reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

A remote operator serves as an intermediary between the autonomous vehicle and human drivers. When the vehicle encounters a traffic situation counter to its programming, the operator receives a notification, reviews the situation details, and provides guidance or override commands. This intermediary system maintains high automation efficiency while providing reliable human intervention when needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If direct human oversight is implemented for route adjustments, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and operational difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveroute adjustment reliabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The autonomous vehicle system maintains self-service operation for normal driving tasks, automatically navigating and making routine decisions. The human operator only becomes involved when the vehicle encounters situations beyond its programming, reviewing the specific situation and providing targeted guidance. This approach ensures reliability for complex decisions while keeping the overall system simple and automated for routine operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Adaptability or versatility

If human operators remotely intervene in vehicle routing, then adaptability is improved, but loss of time occurs during operator assessment and decision-making

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle routing adaptabilityVSAvoidoperator response time
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by continuously monitoring vehicle status and pre-assessing potential situations counter to programming. When such situations are detected, the system prepares notification data and situation details in advance, enabling the operator to quickly review and respond. This preliminary preparation minimizes the time the operator needs to assess the situation and make decisions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3559601B1Autonomous vehicle service system
Publication Date: 2024.06.12 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA INC
  • EP3559601B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3559601B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3559601B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An autonomous vehicle service system having a display device, a receiver, and a controller. The receiver is configured to receive transmitted data from an autonomous vehicle related to status of the autonomous vehicle and information from a third party related to road conditions. The controller is programmed to monitor the transmitted data related to the status of the autonomous vehicle and the road conditions, determine when the autonomous vehicle requires assistance based on the transmitted data, and, when the autonomous vehicle requires assistance, cause information related to the autonomous vehicle to be displayed on the display device.