Autonomous Driving Lane Safety Control for Minimum Risk Stops
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous driving systems face safety challenges when encountering non-uniform road conditions, as they often rely solely on stopping on the lane, which can lead to collisions with following vehicles, especially when road conditions are hazardous.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method for controlling autonomous driving that determines the safety of each lane based on calculated time to collision (TTC) and probability calculations, allowing the vehicle to transition control authority to the driver or perform emergency or minimum risk maneuvers, prioritizing stopping on the safest lane, such as the shoulder if available.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the autonomous driving system stops the vehicle on the current lane during emergency or minimum risk maneuver, then the vehicle can perform a simple stop control, but the collision with following vehicle or stationary objects may occur due to non-uniform road conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically determines the safety of each lane based on real-time conditions including TTC calculations and object detection, rather than using a static stop control approach. The processor evaluates multiple lanes and selects the safest stopping location, making the stop control adaptive to current road conditions and traffic situations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediate evaluation step between the decision to stop and the actual stop execution. The processor calculates TTC, detects objects in each lane, and determines lane safety before selecting the stopping lane, acting as an intermediary assessment layer that prevents direct stopping on unsafe lanes.
2Reliability
If the autonomous driving system calculates TTC and determines safety of each lane to select the safest stopping lane, then the vehicle safety is improved, but the computational complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the road into multiple lanes and evaluates each lane independently for safety. The processor divides the stopping decision into lane-specific assessments, calculating TTC and detecting objects for each lane separately, then selecting the safest lane based on individual lane conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the evaluation parameters from a simple stop command to multiple parameters including TTC calculations, object detection results, and lane safety determination. By introducing these additional parameters and evaluating them systematically, the system achieves safer stopping decisions despite increased complexity.
3Device complexity
If the autonomous driving system only supports stopping on the current lane, then the control system is simple, but the collision risk with following vehicle increases when road conditions are hazardous
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by calculating TTC and detecting objects in potential stopping lanes before executing the stop maneuver. This advance evaluation of lane safety allows the system to identify and avoid hazardous stopping locations, preventing collisions before they occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The system takes preliminary anti-action by identifying and avoiding unsafe lanes through TTC calculations and object detection before the stop is executed. By proactively determining lane safety and selecting alternative lanes, the system counteracts the potential harmful effect of stopping in hazardous conditions.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for controlling autonomous driving includes: a processor to determine a travelling situation and a lane position, and determine an autonomous driving control maneuver of a vehicle depending on the determination result, and a non-transitory storage medium to store a result calculated by the processor and a set of instructions executed by the processor. The processor determines a safety of each lane of a road on which the vehicle is travelling to control the vehicle to stop on a lane representing a highest safety, after starting a minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver.