Autonomous Vehicle Pickup Suggestions for Unsafe Stop Requests
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in identifying and accessing safe and accessible locations for passenger pickup and drop-off due to road conditions, construction, and safety issues, limiting their operational effectiveness and user convenience.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes detailed map information and server computing devices to identify and suggest alternative locations within a threshold distance, scoring them based on accessibility for both humans and autonomous vehicles, allowing users to select the best options for pickup and drop-off points.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If autonomous vehicles operate at fully autonomous mode with user-provided pickup or destination locations, then user convenience is improved, but safety and accessibility issues arise when requested locations are unsuitable
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of the requested pickup or destination location before confirming the ride request. Server computing devices evaluate whether the location is suitable for autonomous vehicle operation by comparing it against predetermined locations and assessing accessibility factors. This preliminary action prevents safety issues before they occur, allowing the system to either confirm the request as-is or prompt the user to select an alternative location.
2Reliability
If the system provides suggested alternative locations, then safety and suitability are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary layer between the user's location request and the autonomous vehicle dispatch. Server computing devices act as mediators that automatically evaluate requested locations, compare them against predetermined suitable locations, and either confirm the request or generate alternative suggestions. This intermediary processing layer handles the complexity of safety assessments and location matching, keeping the user interface simple while ensuring reliable safety checks.
3Reliability
If the system evaluates locations based on multiple accessibility factors, then location suitability is improved, but computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of locations by comparing requested locations against predetermined locations that have already been assessed for suitability. This preliminary action uses pre-established criteria and databases of suitable pickup and destination locations, allowing for rapid assessment without requiring complex real-time analysis of multiple accessibility factors for every requested location.
4Reliability
If the system restricts vehicles to predetermined locations only, then safety is improved, but user flexibility and service coverage are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts between two operational modes: confirming requests for predetermined locations and generating alternative suggestions for non-predetermined locations. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain safety by restricting operations to known suitable locations while preserving user flexibility by providing alternative location suggestions rather than simply rejecting requests. The system adapts its response based on whether the requested location is in the predetermined set or not.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the disclosure provide systems and methods for providing suggested locations for pick up and destination locations. Pick up locations may include locations where an autonomous vehicle can pick up a passenger, while destination locations may include locations where the vehicle can wait for an additional passenger, stop and wait for a passenger to perform some task and return to the vehicle, or for the vehicle to drop off a passenger. As such, a request for a vehicle may be received from a client computing device. The request may identify a first location. A set of one or more suggested locations may be selected by comparing the predetermined locations to the first location. The set may be provided to the client computing device.