Passenger Support Monitoring for Occupancy Mismatch in Autonomous Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
In autonomous vehicles, passengers lack immediate assistance in potentially dangerous or violent situations, as there is no human driver to intervene and ensure their safety.
Innovation Solution
A passenger support system, or 'buddy system,' is implemented in driverless vehicles that provides passengers with support and assistance by transmitting vehicle occupancy information to an on-demand mobility partner or a Remote Customer Assistant (RCA), who can monitor cabin data and take actions such as alerting authorities, locking doors, or issuing warnings if unauthorized individuals are detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If autonomous vehicles operate without human drivers, then vehicle automation and operational efficiency are improved, but passenger safety and immediate assistance in dangerous situations deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a remote customer assistant as an intermediary between the autonomous vehicle system and emergency services. This intermediary monitors vehicle occupancy data, detects discrepancies between expected and actual passenger counts, and initiates safety protocols by contacting authorities or providing real-time support to passengers, thereby compensating for the absence of on-site human intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by continuously monitoring and verifying passenger occupancy before and during vehicle operation. By detecting unauthorized individuals in advance and alerting authorities proactively, the system prevents potential safety incidents rather than responding after they occur, thus maintaining passenger safety without requiring human drivers
2Reliability
If passenger monitoring and support systems are added to autonomous vehicles, then passenger safety is improved, but device complexity and system costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages existing vehicle sensors and occupancy detection systems already present in autonomous vehicles for other purposes (such as billing, route planning, and basic safety monitoring) and repurposes them for enhanced passenger safety verification. By making these existing components multi-functional, the patent avoids adding dedicated complex hardware while still achieving improved safety monitoring capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service safety monitoring by automatically comparing expected passenger counts with actual sensor data, autonomously detecting discrepancies, and initiating safety protocols without requiring additional manual intervention or complex centralized control systems. This self-service approach reduces system complexity while maintaining high safety standards
Data Source
AI summary
Among other things, techniques are described for a passenger support system. In an example, a reported number of passengers associated with on-demand mobility transportation services is obtained in response to passengers opting-in to a passenger support system. The reported number of passengers is compared with a vehicle detected number of passengers. In response to the reported number of passengers being unequal to the vehicle detected number of passengers, a remote customer assistant is enabled.