Autonomous Road Condition Reporting via Targeted Vehicle Transmission

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle safety systems fail to effectively communicate adverse road conditions to other vehicles and maintenance entities, leading to delayed identification and improvement of road issues.

Innovation Solution

An autonomous road condition reporting system that uses sensors to detect and identify road conditions, generates information about their impact on other vehicles, and transmits this information to affected vehicles and maintenance entities, including instructions for improvement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If vehicle safety systems do not communicate safety information to other vehicles, then device complexity is reduced, but loss of information increases and reliability decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveroad condition informationVSAvoidcommunication system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments road condition information into specific categories (debris, dysfunctional signs, decaying infrastructure) and transmits only relevant segments to affected vehicles, reducing overall information loss without requiring complete system-wide communication of all safety data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A dedicated road condition information transmission system acts as an intermediary layer between vehicle sensors and other vehicles, selectively communicating only road condition data rather than all safety information, thus reducing information loss while maintaining manageable system complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If road condition information is not transmitted to other vehicles, then loss of time is reduced, but reliability decreases and productivity of road maintenance decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveroad safety reliabilityVSAvoidtime for road condition identification

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection and classification of road conditions (debris, dysfunctional signs, decaying infrastructure) before transmission, so that when information is communicated to other vehicles, it is immediately actionable and reduces the time needed for identification and response

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system establishes a feedback loop where road condition information is transmitted to affected vehicles and maintenance entities, which can then confirm receipt and action status, improving reliability while minimizing time loss through targeted, real-time communication

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If all vehicles receive all road condition information, then reliability improves, but device complexity and energy consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveroad condition information reliabilityVSAvoidenergy for information transmission

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by transmitting road condition information selectively to specific subsets of vehicles based on their proximity and vulnerability to the detected condition, rather than broadcasting to all vehicles, thus maintaining reliability for affected vehicles while reducing overall energy consumption

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes transmission parameters (recipient selection, information type, transmission range) based on the specific road condition detected, adjusting energy expenditure to match the actual need for information dissemination while maintaining reliability where required

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

4Productivity

If road condition detection and transmission systems are added to vehicles, then productivity of road maintenance improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveroad maintenance productivityVSAvoidvehicle sensor and communication system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs universal sensor components and communication protocols that can detect and transmit multiple types of road conditions (debris, dysfunctional signs, decaying infrastructure) through a single integrated platform, improving road maintenance productivity without proportionally increasing device complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system enables vehicles to autonomously detect, classify, and transmit road condition information without requiring complex external processing or manual intervention, allowing vehicles to self-serve in identifying and reporting road issues, thus improving maintenance productivity while keeping onboard system complexity manageable

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS11600174B2Systems and methods for autonomous road condition reporting

Publication Date: 2023.03.07 PONY AI INC

AI summary

Apparatuses, methods, and computer readable storage media are provided for autonomously reporting road conditions. The apparatus can be operated by using one or more sensors by a detecting vehicle to detect a road condition. A computer can then identify the road condition using a component and generating a road condition information. The computer can then determine an effect of the road condition on other vehicles and determine a subset of the other vehicles that will be affected by the road condition. The computer can then transmit the road condition information such that the road condition information is receivable by the subset of other vehicles.