Autonomous Vehicle Failover Logic for Driver-Present and Driverless Modes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in responding effectively to triggering events due to communication latencies and mode confusion when operating in different operational modes, particularly in scenarios where human intervention is required or not.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that determines the operational mode of an autonomous vehicle and provides tailored failover responses to triggering events by sending control signals to onboard systems, allowing for manual control when a human driver is present or decelerating to a stop when the driver is not present, thereby reducing reliance on remote computing systems and enhancing safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the autonomous vehicle relies on remote computing systems for processing and response, then centralized control and monitoring are improved, but communication latency and response time worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides control functions between remote computing systems (centralized monitoring, non-critical processing) and on-board computing devices (critical failover responses, real-time decision making). This segmentation allows centralized control to maintain reliability while on-board systems eliminate communication latency for time-critical operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The on-board computing device pre-loads failover response protocols and maintains readiness to execute critical responses independently. By having failover capabilities prepared in advance on the vehicle itself, the system eliminates the need for real-time remote processing of critical events, thus removing communication latency from the response chain.
2Device complexity
If the autonomous vehicle uses a single operational mode response protocol, then system simplicity is improved, but adaptability to different operational scenarios worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts failover response protocols based on the detected operational mode. When a triggering event occurs, the on-board computing device identifies whether the vehicle is in human-driver-present mode, human-driver-absent mode, or autonomous-navigation mode, and selectively applies the appropriate response protocol. This dynamic adaptation allows a single control system to handle multiple operational scenarios without requiring separate hard-coded protocols for each mode.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for controlling a failover response of an autonomous vehicle are provided. In one example embodiment, a method includes determining, by one or more computing devices on-board an autonomous vehicle, an operational mode of the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle is configured to operate in at least a first operational mode in which a human driver is present in the autonomous vehicle and a second operational mode in which the human driver is not present in the autonomous vehicle. The method includes detecting a triggering event associated with the autonomous vehicle. The method includes determining actions to be performed by the autonomous vehicle in response to the triggering event based at least in part on the operational mode. The method includes providing one or more control signals to one or more of the systems on-board the autonomous vehicle to perform the one or more actions in response to the triggering event.