Lead AV Construction Zone Detection With Server-Guided Rerouting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current autonomous vehicle navigation technologies are not configured to handle specific unexpected situations on roads, requiring manual driver intervention for AVs to navigate around obstacles or closures.
Innovation Solution
A method where a lead autonomous vehicle detects unexpected situations like construction zones or road closures using sensor data and updates its routing plan, communicating with following AVs to divert or re-route as necessary, using a system that includes vehicle sensors, a control subsystem, and an operation server to manage navigation and map data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If autonomous vehicle navigation technologies are configured to handle unexpected situations automatically, then manual driver intervention is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the navigation challenge by comparing sensor data against pre-stored map data, dividing the complex task of handling unexpected situations into manageable steps: detection, comparison, identification, and response execution
Solution Approach 2:
Map data representing expected road objects is pre-stored in the system before the AV encounters any unexpected situations. This preliminary preparation enables rapid comparison and identification when anomalies are detected, reducing real-time processing complexity
2Measurement precision
If the system compares sensor data with map data to identify construction zones, then detection precision improves, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the relevant comparison task between sensor data and pre-stored map data, focusing computational energy on identifying discrepancies rather than processing all possible navigation information from scratch
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs comparison only for objects within the AV's current field of view and against the pre-stored map portion for that area, avoiding exhaustive analysis of the entire map database and reducing energy consumption
3Reliability
If the lead AV communicates construction zone information to following AVs, then reliability of following AVs improves, but loss of time in information transmission occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The lead AV continuously monitors for construction zones and provides feedback to following AVs in real-time, creating a distributed awareness system where the lead vehicle's detections benefit the entire platoon without requiring each vehicle to independently detect all hazards
Solution Approach 2:
The communication system acts as an intermediary, transmitting only essential construction zone detection data between vehicles rather than exchanging complete sensor datasets, reducing transmission time while maintaining reliability
Data Source
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AI summary
A lead autonomous vehicle (AV) includes a sensor configured to observe a field of view in front of the lead AV. Following AVs are on the same road behind the lead AV. A processor of the lead AV is configured to detect a construction zone. The processor sends a first message to an operation server, indicating that the construction zone is detected. The processor updates driving instructions of the lead AV to navigate around the construction zone. While navigating around the construction zone, the processor sends sensor data associated with the construction zone to the operation server. The operation server determines an extent of the construction zone. If the operation server determines that the construction zone is extensive, it sends rerouting instructions to the AVs. If the operation server determines that the construction zone is not extensive, it sends instructions to navigate around the construction zone to the AVs.