Redundant Sensor Fabric for Autonomous Vehicle Fault Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face performance degradation and operational inhibition due to sensor failures, as they rely on a single sensor for environmental detection and decision-making.
Innovation Solution
A redundant sensor fabric is implemented, where a processing unit receives sensor data from multiple sensors within the same sensing space, detects faults in one sensor, and establishes a communication path with a redundant sensor to ensure continuous data reception and processing, maintaining vehicle performance through parallel processing and redundant pathways.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single sensor is used for environmental detection, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability deteriorates due to sensor failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-configures multiple redundant sensors and establishes communication paths before failures occur. The system proactively sets up alternative data flow routes through the switched fabric, so when a sensor failure is detected, the transition to redundant sensors is immediate without requiring complex real-time routing decisions
Solution Approach 2:
The switched fabric is designed to handle multiple functions: normal sensor data collection, fault detection, and redundant sensor activation. The same communication infrastructure serves both primary and backup sensor pathways, eliminating the need for separate dedicated redundant systems
2Reliability
If redundant sensors and communication paths are implemented, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The switched fabric acts as an intermediary that abstracts the complexity of redundant sensor management. It provides a standardized interface between sensors and processing units, handling the complexity of path establishment and sensor coordination internally while presenting a simple interface to the rest of the system
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments sensor data flows into independent communication paths through the switched fabric. Each sensor and processing unit can be independently managed and replaced without affecting the entire system, allowing incremental implementation of redundancy
3Reliability
If sensor data from multiple sensors is processed in parallel, then the reliability is improved, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates copies of sensor data from redundant sensors and routes them through the switched fabric to the same processing units. This allows parallel processing of redundant data without requiring complex coordination, as the processing logic remains identical regardless of which sensor the data originates from
Data Source
AI summary
A redundant sensor fabric in an autonomous vehicle may include receiving, by a processing unit, sensor data from a first sensor of a plurality of sensors associated with a same sensing space of the autonomous vehicle; detecting a fault associated with the first sensor; establishing, via a switched fabric, a communications path between the processing unit and a second sensor of the plurality of sensors; and receiving, by the processing unit, sensor data from the second sensor instead of the first sensor.