Remote Vehicle Teleoperation With Operator Gaze Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current remote control systems for motor vehicles are complex and require high operator attention for safe teleoperated driving, especially over long distances, and do not effectively convey the operator's gaze direction to passengers, which can impact the safety and confidence of the driving experience.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that uses optical capture units to transmit environmental information to a remote operator location, where eye-tracking technology determines the operator's gaze direction, marking relevant image regions on both the operator's and vehicle's displays to ensure the operator's attention is focused on critical driving areas, enhancing passenger safety and confidence through visual feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If teleoperated driving is performed from a remote location, then the operator can control the vehicle over long distances and in general traffic, but the complexity of the system increases and high operator attention is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by transmitting environmental information captured by the vehicle's sensors back to the remote operator in real-time, allowing the operator to see what the vehicle sees and make informed driving decisions despite the remote location
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses display units as intermediaries between the vehicle's sensor data and the remote operator, converting complex sensor information into visual representations that the operator can easily interpret and act upon
2Reliability
If the operator's gaze direction is monitored and displayed to passengers, then passenger safety and confidence improve, but the system complexity increases due to eye-tracking technology
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using eye-tracking technology to monitor the operator's gaze direction and displaying this information to passengers on the vehicle's display units, allowing passengers to verify the operator's attention focus
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the operator's own physiological signals (eye movement) to provide safety verification, eliminating the need for additional complex monitoring systems by leveraging the operator's natural attention indicators
3Speed
If environmental information is transmitted in real-time to the operator, then the operator can make timely driving decisions, but the data transmission requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential environmental information that is relevant for driving decisions from the complete sensor data set, transmitting only this critical subset to the remote operator rather than all available data
Solution Approach 2:
The display units serve multiple functions: displaying environmental information for driving decisions, showing operator gaze direction for safety verification, and providing a unified interface for both operational and safety information
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates safer teleoperated driving by providing real-time visual feedback of the operator's gaze direction, allowing passengers to assess the operator's attention and focus on critical driving areas, thus improving the overall safety and confidence during remote operation.
Implementation Method 1
a viewing direction of the operator to the display unit is determined. It is captured at which image region of the image displayed on the display unit the operator gazes
Data Source
AI summary
A method for remotely controlled driving of a motor vehicle, characterized in that by the motor vehicle a transport travel with at least one passenger in the motor vehicle is performed. The driving of the motor vehicle during the transport drive, at least in phases, is performed in teleoperated manner by an external teleoperator from an operator location. During the teleoperated driving environmental information of the motor vehicle is transmitted to the operator location and displayed at least on one display unit for the teleoperator. During the teleoperated driving a viewing direction of the teleoperator on the display unit is determined, and is displayed on the display unit where the teleoperator gazes. This image region, at which the teleoperator gazes, is visually marked on a display unit in the motor vehicle.