Remote Support Guidance for Autonomous Vehicle Edge Cases
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles often encounter situations that their systems cannot address, such as unfamiliar road environments, vehicle component failures, or passenger needs for external support, requiring a reliable and cost-effective method for external assistance without a licensed operator present.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows autonomous vehicles to request support from a remote support system using buttons and sensors, which can involve natural persons or AI agents, to provide guidance or initiate emergency stops, leveraging additional computational resources and data sources for decision-making.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If autonomous vehicles operate without a licensed operator present, then operational cost and accessibility are improved, but safety and reliability deteriorate when the autonomous system encounters situations outside its operational design domain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a remote support system as an intermediary between the autonomous vehicle and human operators. This mediator receives sensor data from the vehicle, assesses situations, and provides guidance commands when the autonomous system encounters edge cases, thereby maintaining safety without requiring continuous presence of licensed operators in the vehicle
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the operational responsibilities between the onboard autonomous control unit and the remote support system. The autonomous system handles routine operations while the remote support system is activated only when needed, dividing the safety-critical functions across different locations and systems
2Device complexity
If the autonomous system handles all situations independently, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability deteriorates when encountering unfamiliar road environments or component failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the system's adaptability by adding a remote dimension. Instead of relying solely on onboard computational resources, the system accesses remote computational resources and human expertise when needed, effectively adding another dimension of problem-solving capability without increasing the complexity of the vehicle's onboard systems
3Reliability
If remote support is activated for all situations, then safety and reliability are improved, but loss of time and communication overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by activating the remote support system only when the autonomous vehicle encounters situations outside its operational design domain or when confidence thresholds are not met. This selective activation maintains safety for critical situations while avoiding unnecessary communication overhead for routine operations
Data Source
AI summary
A remote support system provides support to an autonomous drive system of a vehicle in response to a support request. The remote support may include guiding the autonomous drive system of the vehicle through a hazardous environment. A call to the remote support system may be initiated, for example, via a user interface control button or by scanning a bar code, QR code, or RFID associated with the vehicle on a device that sends the code with vehicle information to the remote support system. The remote support system may determine an urgency of the request to assess whether immediate support should be initiated or whether to first initiate a communication connection with a passenger. Furthermore, an emergency brake system of the vehicle may be triggered by the remote support system or in response to the vehicle losing a connection to the remote support system during a support request.