Autonomous Vehicle Pullover Reasoning for Occluded Parking Spots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in identifying suitable pullover locations, especially when these locations are occluded or not currently visible, leading to potential discomfort for passengers and other road users due to premature slowing or hard braking.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle's computing system receives sensor data to calculate a cost for each pullover location, accounting for occlusions and vehicle dynamics, and adjusts its speed to approach potentially better occluded locations by comparing estimated and visible options, allowing for more viable pullover maneuvers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the vehicle evaluates pullover locations at a fixed distance away to avoid excessively fast lateral shifting and hard braking, then passenger comfort is improved, but the vehicle unnecessarily restricts where it can actually pull over and cannot identify suitable occluded spots
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the evaluation distance for pullover locations based on vehicle dynamics and sensor capabilities. Instead of using a fixed distance threshold, the vehicle can evaluate locations at varying distances, allowing it to consider occluded spots that are closer than the traditional fixed distance would permit, while still maintaining passenger comfort through dynamic control adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle performs preliminary evaluation of potential pullover locations including occluded areas before actually reaching them. By using sensor data and cost calculations to assess hidden locations in advance, the system can identify viable occluded spots and prepare appropriate speed adjustments beforehand, resolving the contradiction between early identification and passenger comfort.
2Measurement precision
If the vehicle uses sensor data with field of view restrictions to calculate costs for occluded pullover locations, then measurement precision is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces intermediate cost calculations that mediate between sensor data and pullover location selection. By using cost functions as intermediaries to evaluate occluded locations based on available sensor data and field of view restrictions, the system achieves precise assessment of hidden spots without directly implementing complex vision algorithms, thus balancing precision and complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the vehicle slows down before approaching occluded pullover locations, then passenger comfort and communication of intent to road users is improved, but the time to complete the pullover maneuver increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes speed parameters dynamically based on the selected pullover location characteristics. For occluded locations, the vehicle adjusts speed to communicate intent and ensure comfort, but optimizes the deceleration profile to minimize unnecessary time loss. The cost calculation helps select locations that balance comfort requirements with time efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
The technology involves pullover maneuvers for vehicles operating in an autonomous driving mode. A vehicle operating in an autonomous driving mode is able to identify parking locations that may be occluded or otherwise not readily visible. A best case estimation for any potential parking locations, including partially or fully occluded areas, is compared against predictions for identified visible parking locations. This can include calculating a cost for each potential parking location and comparing that cost to a baseline cost. Upon determining that an occluded location would provide a more viable option than any visible parking locations, the vehicle is able to initiate a driving adjustment (e.g., slow down) prior to arriving at the occluded location. This enables the vehicle to minimize passenger discomfort while also providing notice to other road users of an intent to pull over.