Combined Walking-Driving Routing for AV Pickup Constraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in navigating to user-specific pickup and drop-off locations due to road closures, low visibility, pedestrian activity, and stopping restrictions, leading to inefficient trip durations and user inconvenience.
Innovation Solution
A routing system that integrates walking and driving segments to optimize routes by selecting eligible pickup and drop-off locations using a walking path database, considering pedestrian behavior and road conditions, to minimize overall trip time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the AV selects the closest suitable stopping location to a desired pickup location or drop-off location, then the stopping location is easily accessible, but this can create an overly long trip duration
Solution Approach 1:
The trip is divided into multiple segments: a walking segment from the user's desired location to a nearby suitable stopping location, and a driving segment for the majority of the journey. This segmentation allows the AV to optimize each segment independently, choosing stopping locations that minimize total travel time rather than simply being the closest to the desired location.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-identifies suitable stopping locations along the route before the AV departs. By calculating multiple candidate stopping locations and their associated walking and driving times in advance, the system can select the optimal combination that minimizes total trip duration, rather than reacting to constraints during the journey.
2Reliability
If the AV only stops along certain roads or at certain locations due to stopping restrictions, then the AV complies with traffic rules, but the user's desired pickup location or drop-off location may be far from suitable stopping locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a walking path as an intermediary between the user's desired location and the AV's stopping location. This intermediary allows the user to bridge the gap created by stopping restrictions, enabling the AV to comply with traffic rules while still serving the user's desired location through a combined walking and driving approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a universal solution that works for both locations with strict stopping restrictions and locations with flexible stopping policies. By calculating optimal combinations of walking and driving segments, the same routing system can serve diverse urban environments with different stopping regulations without requiring location-specific customization.
3Reliability
If the AV cannot travel on certain roads due to low visibility, poor conditions, high pedestrian activity, or other factors, then the AV avoids unsafe conditions, but alternative routes may be longer or require more stops
Solution Approach 1:
The routing system dynamically adjusts the route by introducing flexible walking segments that can adapt to road conditions. When driving routes encounter unsafe or restricted conditions, the system dynamically recalculates alternative paths using pre-computed walking paths, allowing seamless transition between driving and walking modes to maintain route efficiency despite adverse conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A walking path database stores data describing a set of connected walking paths. The walking path database may be generated based on an existing map database describing connected roads. The walking path database and map database are used to generate a combined walking and driving route, where a user walks to a particular pickup location, and a vehicle drives the user from the pickup location to a particular destination. The combined walking and driving route may be a route that minimizes the overall trip time.