Centralized Vehicle Motion Control for Fast Autonomous Driving Decisions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Achieving highly accurate autonomous driving requires comprehensive determination of vehicle motion based on environmental and driver state information, necessitating high-speed processing of vast data volumes from sensors and external networks.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle arithmetic system with a single information processing unit that integrates vehicle external environment estimation, route generation, and target motion determination, enabling high-speed data transmission and centralized control of autonomous driving functions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If a hierarchical control system with multiple controllers is used, then the system complexity is distributed and easier to manage, but the data transmission speed and control accuracy deteriorate due to multiple interfaces and communication delays

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem complexityVSAvoiddata transmission speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple control functions (environmental estimation, route generation, motion determination, and actuator control) into a single information processing unit. This consolidation eliminates multiple communication interfaces between controllers, thereby increasing data transmission speed and control accuracy while maintaining manageable complexity through integrated architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Speed

If a single information processing unit is used, then the data transmission speed and control accuracy improve, but the device complexity concentrates and becomes more difficult to manage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata transmission speedVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The single information processing unit is segmented into distinct functional modules: environment estimation unit, route generation unit, motion determination unit, and energy management unit. Each module handles specific tasks independently, which simplifies the management of complex functions while maintaining the speed benefits of a centralized architecture through reduced communication overhead.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Measurement precision

If comprehensive determination based on multiple data sources is performed, then the autonomous driving accuracy improves, but the processing time and computational load increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautonomous driving accuracyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary processing by continuously estimating the external environment and pre-generating route options based on sensor data. When motion determination is needed, the system selects from pre-computed routes rather than computing from scratch, significantly reducing real-time processing time while maintaining comprehensive analysis of environmental factors for accurate autonomous driving decisions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3907115B1Arithmetic operation system for vehicle
Publication Date: 2025.05.07 MAZDA MOTOR CORP
  • EP3907115B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3907115B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3907115B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A vehicle arithmetic system includes a single information processing unit (1). The information processing unit (1) includes: a vehicle external environment estimation unit (10) configured to receive outputs from sensors that obtain information of a vehicle external environment, and estimate the vehicle external environment including a road and an obstacle; a route generation unit (30) configured to generate a traveling route of the vehicle which avoids the obstacle estimated on the road estimated, based on an output from the vehicle external environment estimation unit (10); and a target motion determination unit (40) configured to determine a target motion of the vehicle so that the vehicle travels along the traveling route generated by the route generation unit (30).