Autonomous Lane Change Control Guided by Driver Intent
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous driving systems often fail to optimally implement user intent while maintaining vehicle control, particularly in situations requiring lane changes.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control system that interprets user intent through sensor data, such as steering wheel engagement and driver attention, to determine viable lane changes while maintaining autonomous operation, using sensors and a processor to execute maneuvers based on lane viability and user input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If control is returned to the user during autonomous driving mode, then user intent is implemented, but autonomous control over vehicle movement is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial user input by detecting subtle steering wheel interactions (such as slight rotations or pressure changes) and implementing only the necessary portion of the user's intended maneuver while maintaining autonomous control for the remainder of the driving task. This allows user intent to be incorporated without fully disengaging autonomous driving functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary between the user and the vehicle's autonomous driving system. It receives subtle steering inputs from the user, interprets them as lane change intentions, and mediates by executing the maneuver only after verifying safety conditions, thus bridging user intent and autonomous control without full handover.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle executes user-initiated lane changes during autonomous mode, then user intent is honored, but safety may be compromised if the intended lane is not viable
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the driving environment and provides feedback by evaluating whether the intended lane is viable for execution. It assesses factors such as lane occupancy, road markings, and traffic conditions, and only executes the lane change if safety conditions are met, otherwise it maintains the current lane while informing the user of the safety constraint.
Solution Approach 2:
Before executing the user's lane change request, the system performs preliminary safety verification by checking if the target lane is viable. If the lane is occupied or unsafe, the system preemptively prevents the maneuver from occurring, thus avoiding potential hazards while still respecting the user's navigational intent under safe conditions.
3Reliability
If the system monitors driver attention and hand position on steering wheel, then maneuver execution safety is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The existing sensors in the autonomous vehicle (such as cameras for driver monitoring and steering angle sensors for detecting wheel position) are repurposed to detect subtle user inputs and verify driver attention. This multi-functional use of existing components enables safety verification without adding significant new hardware complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a system is provided that includes one or more sensors of a vehicle and a processor of the vehicle. The one or more sensors are configured to at least facilitate obtaining sensor data representative of an intent of a user of the vehicle for the vehicle to make a maneuver during an autonomous driving mode. The processor is coupled to the one or more sensors, and is configured to at least facilitate operating the vehicle in an autonomous manner in the autonomous driving mode via instructions provided by the processor; and performing the maneuver, in accordance with instructions provided by the processor, while the vehicle otherwise maintains in the autonomous driving mode.