Roadway Access Control for Autonomous Vehicles
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Self-driving vehicles (SDVs) with inadequate autonomous capabilities may attempt to access roadways designed for advanced driving conditions, posing safety risks, while human drivers may struggle with roads requiring superhuman driving skills, necessitating a system to control access based on vehicle capabilities and driving modes.
Innovation Solution
A roadway access control system that includes a vehicle interrogation device, supervisory computer, and automatic barricades, which assess the SDV's autonomous capabilities and current roadway conditions to determine if the vehicle can safely navigate the road, blocking access if capabilities are inadequate and allowing access when sufficient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If access to the roadway is opened to all vehicles, then traffic flow and accessibility are improved, but safety deteriorates due to inadequate autonomous capabilities of some SDVs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary access control system positioned between the SDV and the roadway. This system includes sensors to detect SDV autonomous capabilities, a processor to evaluate whether the SDV meets safety thresholds, and an automatic barricade to physically control access. The intermediary system filters SDVs based on their autonomous capabilities, allowing only qualified vehicles to access the roadway, thus maintaining safety while permitting traffic flow for capable vehicles.
2Reliability
If access control based on autonomous capability assessment is implemented, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional hardware and processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the safety assessment function from the roadway infrastructure and places it in a dedicated access control system. The sensors, processor, and barricade are separated as distinct components that can be independently optimized and maintained. This modular extraction reduces the complexity burden on the overall roadway system while concentrating safety functions in a specialized subsystem.
Solution Approach 2:
The access control system performs self-assessment of SDV capabilities through automated sensor detection and processor evaluation. The system independently determines whether an approaching SDV meets the safety threshold without requiring manual intervention or external verification. The automatic barricade also operates autonomously based on the processor's determination, creating a self-service safety mechanism that reduces operational complexity.
3Reliability
If automatic barricades are deployed to control access, then safety enforcement is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to automated blocking mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The access control system continuously monitors the autonomous capabilities of approaching SDVs and provides real-time feedback through the automatic barricade. When an SDV meets the safety threshold, the barricade remains retracted, allowing seamless passage. When the threshold is not met, the barricade automatically extends to block access. This feedback mechanism ensures safety enforcement while maintaining convenience for qualified vehicles, as they experience no interruption in their travel.
Data Source
AI summary
A processor-implemented method and/or computer program product selectively blocks a self-driving vehicle's access to a roadway. A vehicle interrogation hardware device receives an autonomous capability signal from an approaching self-driving vehicle. One or more processors compare the predefined roadway conditions to current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway. In response to the predefined roadway conditions matching the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway within a predetermined range, the processor(s) determine whether the level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway. In response determining that the level of autonomous capability of the self-driving vehicle is not adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway, an automatic barricade controlling device positions an automatic barricade to block the approaching self-driving vehicle from accessing the access-controlled roadway.