Automated Driving Evacuation Space Map Creation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated driving technologies fail to accurately identify safe road shoulders for emergency vehicle clearance due to limitations in detecting obstacles, gutters, and frozen surfaces, leading to potential unsafe pulling over scenarios.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus and method that utilize a combination of distance information and image attribute recognition to create an evacuation space map, distinguishing between travelable and unsafe regions based on road surface conditions, allowing for safe pulling over during emergencies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a road shoulder is detected based only on obstacle presence, then the vehicle can quickly identify potential evacuation areas, but the accuracy of identifying truly safe pulling-over locations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple detection methods (obstacle detection, gutter detection, frozen surface detection) into a unified road shoulder determination system. By merging these different detection approaches, the system achieves both quick identification and high accuracy in determining safe pulling-over locations, resolving the contradiction between detection speed and accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The road shoulder determination unit is designed to perform multiple functions: detecting obstacles, detecting gutters, and detecting frozen surfaces. This multi-functional approach allows the system to comprehensively assess road shoulder safety using a single integrated system, improving both detection speed and accuracy simultaneously.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle pulls over to any obstacle-free road shoulder, then the evacuation process is simplified and faster, but the safety of the pulling-over maneuver deteriorates due to unseen hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of gutters and frozen surfaces before the vehicle actually pulls over to the road shoulder. By identifying these hidden hazards in advance, the system ensures that only truly safe road shoulders are selected for evacuation, maintaining both operational simplicity and high safety reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The road shoulder determination unit acts as an intermediary between the simple obstacle-free detection and the complex safety assessment. It mediates by incorporating additional detection capabilities (gutter and frozen surface detection) while maintaining a unified decision-making process, thus preserving ease of operation while enhancing safety.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables safe and prompt pulling over to obstacle-free regions, enhancing safety by accurately identifying available evacuation spaces and avoiding hazardous road conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a distance information acquisition unit that acquires distance information
Implementation Method 2
an image acquisition unit that acquires an image
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that allow for appropriately pulling over to a safe road shoulder when an emergency occurs during automated driving. On the basis of distance information from a depth sensor or the like, a travelable region available for a vehicle to travel is set like an occupancy map, and image attribute information is generated from an image by semantic segmentation. On the basis of the image attribute information, an evacuation space is set in the travelable region in accordance with the situation of the road surface of the travelable region, and thus an evacuation space map is created. The present disclosure can be applied to a mobile object.