Autonomous Vehicle State Switching for User Recognition in Parking Lots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies do not effectively address the challenge of an autonomous vehicle being recognized by a user in various parking lots, especially where GPS signals are unreliable, leading to confusion in identifying the correct vehicle for package delivery or transportation.
Innovation Solution
A control device equipped with a receiver for user location information, a memory for distinct states of the autonomous vehicle, and sensors for environment information, which calculates proximity and selects a visual or auditory state to distinguish the vehicle when the user approaches, ensuring easy recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If GPS-based location notification is used, then the user can know the vehicle location, but the system fails in GPS-denied areas like indoor parking lots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces wireless communication signals (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) as intermediary means to enable vehicle-user communication and identification in GPS-denied environments. These intermediary technologies allow the vehicle to notify users and users to identify vehicles without relying on GPS satellite signals, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and environmental adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the identification parameters from GPS coordinates to wireless signal-based proximity detection and vehicle state parameters (lights, sounds, displays). By changing from location-based identification to signal-and-state-based identification, the system becomes adaptable to indoor environments while maintaining reliable vehicle identification.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle remains in a static state, then energy consumption is low, but the user cannot easily identify the vehicle among multiple vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic vehicle states that can switch between static (low energy) and active (high visibility) modes. The vehicle can change its state—activating lights, sounds, or displays—based on user proximity or environmental conditions, thus achieving easy identification only when needed while minimizing overall energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle employs periodic activation of identification features such as blinking lights or intermittent sound signals rather than continuous operation. This periodic action makes the vehicle easily identifiable when active while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous operation.
3Reliability
If multiple notification methods are provided, then user identification capability is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal control system that can execute multiple notification methods (visual, auditory, wireless communication) through a single integrated controller. This multi-functional approach enhances user-vehicle matching reliability by providing multiple notification channels while avoiding the complexity of separate dedicated systems for each notification type.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments for controlling a state of an autonomous vehicle that is to meet a user are provided. A receiver receives location information indicating a current location of the user. A memory stores a plurality of states of the autonomous vehicle. Each of the states at least one of visually or audibly distinguishes the autonomous vehicle. A sensor senses an environment of the autonomous vehicle to obtain environment information. A distance from a place of meeting the user to the current location of the user is calculated based on the location information. A first state is selected in accordance with the environment information. The autonomous vehicle is caused to change from a second state to the first state when the distance from the place of meeting the user to the current location of the user becomes smaller than or equal to a predetermined distance.