Preview-Based Steering Safety Filter for Lane-Keeping Constraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional autonomous vehicle systems lack effective safety measures for controlling lateral movement, often resulting in unintended lane boundary violations due to the absence of comprehensive safety nets that consider dynamic road conditions and actuator dynamics.
Innovation Solution
A safety filter system that modifies steer commands using a lane-keeping safe set with preview data, incorporating inertial monitoring units, electronic maps, and actuator dynamics to ensure safe lateral movement by formulating safety constraints as control barrier functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional autonomous vehicle systems control lateral movement without comprehensive safety nets, then the system complexity is reduced, but lane boundary violations occur and safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a safety filter as an intermediary component between the autonomous vehicle's control system and the lateral movement actuator. This safety filter receives steer commands from the primary control system, modifies them if necessary to satisfy safety constraints, and outputs safe steer commands. The safety filter acts as a mediator that ensures safety without requiring complete redesign of the entire control system, thus improving reliability while limiting the increase in system complexity to a manageable modular component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the lateral movement control system into distinct functional modules: the primary autonomous control system that generates steer commands, and the safety filter that enforces safety constraints. This segmentation allows the safety net to be developed, tested, and maintained independently from the main control system, improving overall safety while keeping system complexity manageable through modular architecture.
2Reliability
If the safety filter uses preview data of road characteristics, then the safety and reliability are improved, but the computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The safety filter performs preliminary actions by obtaining preview data of upcoming road characteristics (such as curves, intersections, or hazardous areas) in advance of when the vehicle reaches them. This preview data is used proactively to adjust safety constraints before the vehicle enters critical zones, allowing the system to prepare safety modifications ahead of time rather than reacting to immediate dangers, thus reducing real-time processing pressure while maintaining high safety standards.
3Reliability
If the safety filter modifies steer commands based on dynamic road conditions, then lane boundary violations are prevented, but the control precision and responsiveness may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The safety filter employs dynamic safety constraints that adapt in real-time based on the vehicle's current state (position, velocity, acceleration) and preview data of upcoming road conditions. Rather than applying fixed, conservative constraints, the system dynamically adjusts the magnitude and direction of steering modifications needed to satisfy safety requirements. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain high control precision when conditions permit while ensuring safety when risks are detected, thus preventing lane boundary violations without unnecessarily sacrificing control responsiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and non-transitory computer readable media are configured to perform operations comprising obtaining, by a computing system, a lane-keeping safe set associated with constraints on lateral movement of a vehicle traveling on a road, generating, by the computing system, a lane-keeping safe set with preview based on the lane-keeping safe set and preview data, the preview data associated with characteristics of the road ahead of the vehicle, receiving, by the computing system, a steer command to control the lateral movement of the vehicle, and generating, by the computing system, a safe steer command by modifying the steer command based on the lane-keeping safe set with preview.