Personalized Vehicle Control Signals Using Imitation Learning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing autonomous driving systems fail to personalize driving behavior to individual users, leading to discomfort and increased instances of driver intervention, which can result in unsafe situations due to lack of consideration for user preferences.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of imitation learning techniques to create a personalized driving policy by training a machine-learning model on human driver demonstrations, allowing the vehicle to adapt and imitate the driver's style, including parameters like following distance, lane changing, and acceleration profiles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a general machine-learning model is applied to improve automated driving performance for the whole fleet, then the automated driving performance is improved, but user comfort deteriorates because user preferences are not considered

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautomated driving performanceVSAvoiduser comfort
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the automated driving system into two components: a general machine-learning model for fleet-wide performance improvement and a personalized driving style model for individual user preferences. This segmentation allows both general improvements and personalization to coexist, resolving the contradiction between fleet-wide reliability and individual user comfort.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by maintaining a personalized driving style model specific to each user that overrides or adjusts the general machine-learning model's decisions. This allows the system to provide locally optimized driving behavior tailored to each user's preferences while still benefiting from general improvements, thereby maintaining both fleet-wide performance and individual comfort.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Productivity

If the automated driving system makes decisions without considering driver preferences, then the system operates efficiently, but driver comfort deteriorates leading to increased driver intervention

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem efficiencyVSAvoiddriver comfort
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements feedback by continuously learning the driver's preferences through observed driving behavior and using this information to adjust the automated driving decisions. The system monitors driver reactions and intervening patterns, then adapts the driving style model accordingly, creating a feedback loop that improves driver comfort while maintaining system efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs self-service by automatically adapting to each driver's preferences without requiring explicit programming or manual configuration. The machine-learning model autonomously learns driving styles from observed behavior and adjusts its decisions accordingly, maintaining efficiency while improving comfort through self-adjustment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Ease of operation

If the driver frequently intervenes in the automated driving system, then the driver maintains control, but safety deteriorates due to lack of situational awareness

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriver controlVSAvoidsafety
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by making the automated driving system adaptable and flexible in response to driver preferences. By dynamically adjusting the driving style to match what the driver would naturally do, the system reduces the need for intervention while maintaining driver confidence and situational awareness, thereby improving safety without sacrificing control.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3750765B1Method, apparatus and computer program for generating a control signal for operating a vehicle
Publication Date: 2024.11.06 BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG
  • EP3750765B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2b

AI summary

The invention relates to methods, apparatuses and computer programs for generating a machine-learning model and for generating a control signal for operating a vehicle. The method for generating the machine-learning model comprises determining information about a driving behavior of a driver of the vehicle. The method comprises transforming the information about the driving behavior of the driver of the vehicle into a target function for the machine-learning model. The method comprises generating the machine-learning model. The machine-learning model is trained using an imitation learning approach that is based on the target function, to obtain a machine-learning model that imitates the driving behavior of the driver of the vehicle.