Autonomous Vehicle Obstacle Override for False Positive Stops
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles often unnecessarily stop due to false positive obstacle detections, disrupting their path traversal.
Innovation Solution
An operator override system is implemented to mute obstacle detection and avoidance subsystems, allowing the vehicle to continue moving at a reduced speed past detected obstacles, with real-time override messaging and control via a base station.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the autonomous vehicle stops at every detected obstacle, then safety is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to false positive detections causing unnecessary stops
Solution Approach 1:
A base station acts as an intermediary between the autonomous vehicle and the obstacle detection system. The base station receives obstacle detection messages from the vehicle, allows operators to review sensor data and determine if obstacles are real or false positives, then sends override messages to allow the vehicle to continue moving if the obstacle is determined to be a false positive. This intermediary human-in-the-loop system resolves the contradiction by filtering out false alarms while maintaining safety for real obstacles.
2Reliability
If the autonomous vehicle maintains strict obstacle avoidance, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to operational disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the obstacle avoidance behavior based on operator input. When an operator determines a detected obstacle is a false positive, they can send an override message that dynamically changes the vehicle's behavior from strict avoidance to continued movement. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain high reliability for real obstacles while improving ease of operation by eliminating disruptions from false positives.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous vehicle system and method is disclosed that allows an operator to override a stop command issued from an obstacle detection and avoidance subsystem of the autonomous vehicle. Most autonomous vehicles include an obstacle detection and avoidance subsystem that detects potential obstacles along the path of the autonomous vehicle and may send a command to stop the autonomous vehicle. When the obstacle detection and avoidance subsystem detects a potential obstacle (regardless of whether the potential obstacle does or does not exist) and the path is still traversable, the autonomous vehicle may still stop unnecessarily. The disclosed system and methods will allow an operator to override commands issued by the obstacle detection and avoidance subsystem and allow the autonomous vehicle to continue along the path regardless of any potential obstacle.