Fleet Vehicle Operation Mode Determination and Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for managing autonomous vehicle fleets face challenges in efficiently tracking and updating vehicle operation modes, leading to potential safety concerns due to delays and human error, especially when vehicles operate in autonomous modes.
Innovation Solution
A system that maintains a storage configuration of vehicle parameters and operation modes, using hierarchical levels or tags to determine and communicate the appropriate operation mode for each vehicle, ensuring vehicles operate within their capabilities and adhering to requirements, with continuous updates and work order management to prevent unsafe operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual tracking and updating of vehicle operation modes is used, then system complexity is reduced, but safety and reliability deteriorate due to delays and human error
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables autonomous vehicles to self-report their operation mode status and capabilities to the fleet management server. The vehicles automatically update their own parameter profiles and receive mode assignments without manual intervention, eliminating human error while maintaining systematic control through automated feedback loops between vehicles and the central system.
Solution Approach 2:
The fleet management server continuously receives feedback from vehicles regarding their operational status, sensor functionality, and capability changes. This real-time feedback mechanism allows the system to dynamically adjust operation mode assignments based on current vehicle states, ensuring safety while maintaining automated complexity management through structured information exchange protocols.
2Adaptability or versatility
If hierarchical operation levels with multiple requirements are implemented, then vehicle capability matching improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operation modes are segmented into hierarchical levels (e.g., Level 1, Level 2, Level 3) where each level represents a specific capability threshold. This segmentation allows the system to break down complex capability matching into discrete, manageable tiers, where vehicles are evaluated against progressively stricter requirement sets, improving adaptability while controlling complexity through structured categorization.
Solution Approach 2:
Different vehicles within the fleet are assigned different operation mode levels based on their specific capability profiles. Rather than applying a uniform mode to all vehicles, the system tailors the operation mode assignment to each vehicle's local characteristics (sensor suite, processing power, validation status), enabling optimal adaptability while managing complexity through decentralized, vehicle-specific configuration.
3Reliability
If continuous monitoring and updating of vehicle parameters is performed, then operational safety improves, but data processing requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and monitors only the critical vehicle parameters necessary for operation mode determination (e.g., sensor functionality, software version, validation status) rather than continuously processing all available vehicle data. This selective extraction approach maintains high reliability by focusing on key safety-critical parameters while reducing overall data processing requirements and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Vehicles perform preliminary self-validation and parameter verification before reporting to the fleet management server. Critical parameters are pre-checked and pre-processed at the vehicle level, with only validated and relevant data transmitted to the central system. This preliminary action reduces the volume of data requiring central processing while maintaining comprehensive monitoring for safety.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the disclosure relate to determining vehicle operation modes for a fleet of vehicles. This may include maintaining a storage system including vehicle parameters for a vehicle fleet such that each vehicle of the fleet is associated with a set of vehicle parameters. The vehicle operation mode may be determined by selecting one of a plurality of vehicle operation levels arranged in a hierarchy or by identifying a set of tags where each level or tag corresponds to a vehicle driving capability. The determined vehicle operation mode may be communicated to the given vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to operate according to the determined vehicle operation mode.