Vehicle Driving Mode Control Using Wiper State in Heavy Rain
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle control systems fail to appropriately control vehicles in certain conditions, particularly when sensor detection capabilities decrease, leading to inadequate automated driving performance.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control device and method that includes a mode determiner to switch between driving modes based on the operating state of a wiper, changing to a manual driving mode when predetermined conditions of wiper speed or rainfall are met, ensuring driver tasks are appropriately assigned and automated driving is safely transitioned to manual control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If automated driving control is implemented, then driver task is reduced, but vehicle control reliability deteriorates under poor detection conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between automated driving mode and manual driving mode based on detection environment quality. When detection capability falls below a threshold (e.g., heavy rain detected by wiper operation), the system transitions from automated to manual control, ensuring reliability while maintaining ease of operation during favorable conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from wiper operation detection to assess environmental conditions. By monitoring wiper speed and operation state, the system infers rainfall intensity and adjusts driving mode accordingly, creating a closed-loop control that maintains reliability through environment-aware mode selection
2Measurement precision
If wiper operation detection is used to determine mode switching, then detection accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages the wiper system's own operation data to detect environmental conditions. Instead of adding separate sensors, it uses the wiper's speed and activation state as indirect measurements of rainfall intensity, allowing the wiper system to serve both its primary function and environmental detection
Solution Approach 2:
The wiper system performs dual functions: rain removal and environmental condition detection. By analyzing wiper operation parameters, the system extracts information about rainfall intensity to inform driving mode decisions, making the wiper system a multi-functional component
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle control device includes a driving controller configured to control one or both of steering and acceleration or deceleration of a vehicle; and a mode determiner configured to determine a driving mode of the vehicle to be one of a plurality of driving modes including a first driving mode and a second driving mod, in which the second driving mode is a driving mode in which a task imposed on a driver of the vehicle is lighter than that of the first driving mode and one or both of the steering and the acceleration or deceleration are controlled by the driving controller, and to change the driving mode to the first driving mode on the basis of an operating state of a wiper mounted in the vehicle when the driving controller controls the vehicle in the second driving mode.