Road Surface Estimation Using Multi-Vehicle Acceleration Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing road surface condition determination methods only provide information about the condition at the point where the vehicle is traveling, lacking comprehensive understanding of conditions at multiple points along the route.
Innovation Solution
An information processing device communicates with multiple vehicles to acquire and register travel information, including acceleration and driving operation data, and compares this data with database entries to distinguish between changes caused by driver actions and actual road surface conditions, using weather and position information to estimate road surface conditions accurately.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If road surface condition is determined only from own vehicle's acceleration information, then the determination is simple, but the comprehensiveness of road surface condition understanding is limited to only the point where the vehicle is traveling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges data from multiple vehicles traveling on the same road to collectively understand road surface conditions at multiple points. By combining acceleration information from several vehicles with position information, the system achieves comprehensive road condition monitoring without requiring complex infrastructure at each location.
Solution Approach 2:
The information processing device serves multiple functions: it collects acceleration data from multiple vehicles, stores it in a database, compares data from different vehicles, determines driver operations, and estimates road surface conditions. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single universal platform.
2Measurement precision
If acceleration information changes are assumed to indicate road surface condition changes, then road surface changes can be detected, but erroneous interpretations occur due to driver operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback by comparing acceleration information from multiple vehicles passing through the same point. When most vehicles show similar acceleration patterns, it confirms road surface conditions. When a vehicle's acceleration pattern differs significantly from others, the system investigates whether it's due to driver operation or actual road surface change, reducing false positives.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces driver operation determination as an intermediary step between acceleration information and road surface condition estimation. By determining whether acceleration changes are caused by driver operations before concluding road surface changes, the system filters out erroneous interpretations and improves measurement precision.
3Reliability
If multiple vehicles' data is collected and compared to estimate road surface conditions, then comprehensive multi-point assessment is achieved, but data processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the road into multiple points and assigns specific vehicles to specific points for data collection. Each vehicle's data is processed independently for its corresponding road point, and results are aggregated. This segmentation approach makes the complex multi-vehicle data processing manageable by dividing it into smaller, point-specific tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-storing acceleration information and position information from multiple vehicles in a database before actual road surface condition estimation is needed. This pre-processing and organization of data reduces the complexity of real-time analysis when multiple vehicles' data needs to be compared.
Data Source
AI summary
The road surface condition estimation method includes a step of registering vehicle information acquired from a plurality of vehicles in an information processing device, a step of extracting a change in acceleration information when passing through the point by comparing the acquired travel information for the same point with other travel information registered in the information processing device, and a step of determining whether or not the change in acceleration information is due to a driving operation by a driver when a change in acceleration information is extracted. The above-described estimation method determines whether or not the change in the acceleration information is caused by the driving operation by the driver based on the travel information, and estimates that the change in the road surface condition has occurred when it is determined that the change in the acceleration information is not caused by the driving operation by the driver.