Evacuation Route Selection for Incapacitated Drivers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle evacuation systems are ineffective in safely evacuating a vehicle to a safe destination when the driver is incapable of performing driving operations, as they rely solely on warnings and do not account for the driver's state or the risks associated with different locations.
Innovation Solution
An evacuation travelling assistance apparatus that includes a map information acquiring unit, an own vehicle information acquiring unit, a peripheral environment information acquiring unit, a driver information acquiring unit, a driver state determining unit, a risk determining unit, an evacuation destination setting unit, and an evacuation route setting unit, which assesses risks and determines a safe evacuation route and destination, even if the driver is incapacitated.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a warning system is provided to alert drivers of hazardous areas, then driver awareness of hazards is improved, but the system is ineffective when the driver is incapable of performing driving operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines driver state through sensors (camera, microphone, steering angle sensor) and autonomously executes evacuation operations without requiring driver input when incapacity is detected, enabling the system to serve itself in critical situations
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts its operation mode based on real-time driver state assessment, transitioning from warning-only mode to autonomous evacuation mode when driver incapacity is detected, making the system adaptable to changing conditions
2Reliability
If the system autonomously determines evacuation destination and route, then evacuation effectiveness is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex evacuation system is divided into functional modules: driver state determination unit, risk determination unit, evacuation destination setting unit, and evacuation route setting unit, each handling specific tasks to manage overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-acquires map information and pre-establishes evaluation criteria for multiple potential destinations before evacuation is needed, so that when driver incapacity occurs, the system can quickly process and select the safest destination without complex real-time calculations
3Reliability
If the system evaluates multiple locations for evacuation destination, then evacuation safety is improved, but the time required for decision-making increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system evaluates multiple locations beyond the minimum needed to ensure safe evacuation, assessing more destinations than strictly necessary to identify the optimal safe location, accepting some excess evaluation to guarantee safety
Solution Approach 2:
The risk determination unit changes evaluation parameters (risk occurrence frequency, risk avoidability, danger level) to systematically compare locations, enabling efficient decision-making through structured parameter assessment rather than unstructured analysis
Data Source
AI summary
In an evacuation travelling assistance apparatus, a risk determining unit determines, when a driver is not in a state capable of appropriately performing driving operations, a risk involved in stopping at a location and a risk involved in passing through the location, for each of a plurality of locations that may serve as an advancing destination of the own vehicle, based on map information, own vehicle information, and peripheral environment information. The risk determining unit evaluates, for each of the plurality of locations, at least one evaluation subject among a plurality of evaluation subject including: a risk occurrence frequency at the location; a risk avoidability at the location; and a level of danger of the risk occurring at the location, based on a plurality of levels, and determines the risk involved in stopping at each location and the risk involved in passing through each location, based on evaluation results.