Lane Level Routing Plan Formulation for Motor Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current navigation and route planning technologies for motor vehicles are inadequate in providing lane-level guidance, as offline lane suggestion systems are unaware of the vehicle's current lane and local environment, and warning systems lack the ability to schedule future lane changes, leading to unsafe and inefficient driving.
Innovation Solution
A system that formulates lane-level routing plans using spatiotemporal modeling and constrained motion planning, incorporating statistics of lane usage, vehicle behavior, and environmental data to provide scheduled lane transitions, communicated through audio, visual, and haptic cues, and adaptable in real-time to changing conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If offline lane suggestion systems are used, then lane guidance is provided, but the system is unaware of the vehicle's current lane and local environment
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously receives sensor data about the vehicle's current state, position, and surrounding environment, feeding this information back to the route planning module. This feedback loop enables the system to maintain awareness of the current lane and local conditions, dynamically adjusting lane change recommendations based on real-time environmental feedback rather than relying solely on pre-computed offline routes.
2Reliability
If warning systems perform instantaneous blind spot detection, then unsafe lane transitions are averted, but the system lacks functionality for forward plans and cannot schedule lane changes into the future
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary route planning that identifies optimal lane changes in advance, scheduling them into the future based on predicted traffic conditions and route requirements. By planning ahead and preparing lane change recommendations before they are needed, the system maintains both safety through careful planning and time efficiency through advance scheduling, rather than reacting only to immediate conditions.
3Loss of time
If drivers make quick lane changes to avoid missing turns or off ramps, then the driver can reach the destination, but unsafe conditions are created for the driver and nearby vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates optimal lane change opportunities in advance along the route, identifying safe windows for lane transitions before the driver needs to react. By preparing advance lane change recommendations with timing and safety assessments, the system enables drivers to make planned, safe lane changes rather than hurried reactive maneuvers, thus maintaining both time efficiency and safety.
4Ease of operation
If navigation systems provide route guidance, then cognitive overhead is reduced, but the systems do not provide feasible plans for guiding the driver to the suggested lane
Solution Approach 1:
The route planning system divides the overall journey into segments with specific lane change opportunities identified at each segment. Rather than presenting a single complex route, the system segments the journey into manageable portions with clear, actionable lane change instructions at each segment, making the guidance easier to follow while distributing the computational complexity across multiple simpler decision points rather than one complex plan.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for formulating lane level routing plans. In general, aspects of the invention are used in motorized vehicles to guide a driver to a terminal vehicle configuration according to a lane level routing plan that balances travel time with routing plan robustness. A lane level routing plan can be based on terminal guidance conditions (e.g., exiting a highway in the correct off ramp lane), statistical patterns of lanes themselves, current vehicle state, and state of the local environment near the vehicle. Lane level routing plans can be communicated to the driver with audio, visual, and/or haptic cues. Lane level routing plans can be revised online and in (essentially) real-time in response to changing conditions in the local environment (e.g., a trailing vehicle in a neighboring lane has decided to increase speed).