Vehicle Convoy Control With Latency-Compensated Spacing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for controlling vehicle convoys, particularly those using mechanical drawbars, face challenges in efficiently managing the movement and spacing of vehicles due to latency in communication and processing, which affects safety and operational efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method of operating a vehicle convoy where a leader vehicle generates and transmits control commands to follower vehicles, including drive actions and spatial and/or temporal conditions, allowing the follower vehicles to adjust their movements independently while maintaining a set distance from the leader vehicle, thereby eliminating the need for mechanical connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mechanical drawbars are used to couple vehicles, then vehicles can be connected physically, but the system complexity increases and maintenance requirements arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical drawbar coupling system with an electronic communication-based control system. The leader vehicle transmits control commands to follower vehicles through wireless communication, eliminating the need for physical mechanical connections between vehicles while maintaining coordinated movement and coupling reliability.
2Productivity
If control commands are transmitted with latency, then communication between vehicles occurs, but the precision of movement coordination deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by predicting the future position and state of the leader vehicle based on current control commands and vehicle dynamics. Follower vehicles receive and execute commands that are adjusted in advance to compensate for communication latency, ensuring precise movement coordination despite time delays in command transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where follower vehicles continuously monitor their position and the position of the leader vehicle, comparing actual movement with expected movement based on received commands. This feedback allows for real-time adjustments to maintain coordination precision while accounting for communication latency.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple follower vehicles are controlled independently, then transport capacity increases, but the difficulty of maintaining consistent spacing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the convoy control into independent follower vehicle units, each receiving and executing control commands autonomously. Each follower vehicle independently processes commands from the leader vehicle while maintaining its own position and spacing, allowing multiple vehicles to operate simultaneously without requiring complex centralized coordination for each vehicle pair.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a vehicle convoy that includes a leader vehicle generating and transmitting a control command for and to at least one follower vehicle that includes a current timestamp, a drive action to be performed by the at least one follower vehicle and a spatial and/or temporal condition to be fulfilled prior to carrying out the drive action, the drive action including at least one of steering the at least one follower vehicle, changing the speed of the at least one follower vehicle and setting the speed of the at least one follower vehicle, the at least one follower vehicle receiving the control command from the leader vehicle and carrying out the drive action included in the received control command when the spatial and/or temporal condition included in the received control command is fulfilled.