Vehicle Platoon Admission Control Using Driver and Vehicle Qualification

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems for vehicle platooning lack the ability to appropriately organize platoons based on driver and vehicle information, leading to potential safety issues and inefficiencies.

Innovation Solution

A platooning operation system and method that utilizes a centralized service center to manage vehicle platooning, considering driver and vehicle information to organize platoons, including vehicle registration, driver qualifications, and performance evaluation, and dynamically adjusting platoon formations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If vehicles are admitted to platoon without strict qualification verification, then platoon formation is easier and more flexible, but safety and reliability of platoon travel deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesafety of platoon travelVSAvoidcomplexity of platoon management system
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The service center performs preliminary verification of vehicle and driver qualifications before platoon formation. The control device checks whether vehicles meet platoon travel conditions and whether drivers have appropriate qualifications in advance, ensuring safety before the platoon actually forms and travels.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

A service center acts as an intermediary between individual vehicles/drivers and the platoon system. The service center receives information from vehicles and drivers, performs centralized verification and matching, then transmits approved platoon formation instructions back to the participants, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high safety standards.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If platoon formation is strictly controlled based on comprehensive vehicle and driver information, then safety and compatibility are improved, but the time and complexity of platoon organization increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompatibility of vehicle-driver combinationsVSAvoidtime for platoon organization
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The service center performs preliminary registration and qualification verification of vehicles and drivers before platoon formation is needed. This advance preparation stores qualification data and pre-assesses compatibility, so that when platoon formation is required, the system only needs to retrieve and match pre-verified information rather than conducting full verification from scratch.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The control device continuously monitors platoon travel conditions and provides feedback to the service center. When conditions change or issues arise, the service center can adjust platoon compositions dynamically, ensuring ongoing compatibility and safety without requiring complete re-organization of the platoon structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If platoon travel is permitted without monitoring driver state, then operational flexibility is maintained, but safety deteriorates due to potential driver inappropriateness

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesafety against driver inappropriatenessVSAvoidcomplexity of driver monitoring system
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The service center performs preliminary assessment of driver qualifications and states before allowing platoon travel. Drivers must meet specific qualification criteria and their operational state is verified in advance, ensuring only suitable drivers participate in platoon travel.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The service center acts as an intermediary monitoring layer between drivers and the platoon travel system. It receives driver state information, performs centralized assessment and verification, and controls whether drivers can participate in or continue platoon travel based on their suitability, distributing the monitoring complexity across the service center rather than requiring complex on-vehicle systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3764333B1Convoy travel operating system and convoy travel operating method
Publication Date: 2026.01.28 TOSHIBA DIGITAL SOLUTIONS CORP
  • EP3764333B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3764333B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3764333B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

This embodiment provides a platooning operation system capable of appropriately organizing a platoon, based on, for example, information on a driver and information on vehicles. In this embodiment, a platooning operation system organizes a platoon by making a plurality of vehicles cooperate. The platooning operation system includes an application acceptance processor and a platoon organization processor. The application acceptance processor accepts an application of a vehicle for admission to the platoon. The platoon organization processor which selects a platoon to which the vehicle is to be admitted or determines possibility of admission of the vehicle to the platoon, based on at least one of information on a driver driving the vehicle and information on the vehicle.