Robotic Vehicle Emergency Trajectory Control for Safe Pull-Over
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic vehicles often stop in unsafe or inconvenient locations due to malfunctions, posing risks to vehicles and pedestrians.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating both a primary base trajectory and an emergency trajectory for the robotic vehicle. During normal operations, the base trajectory is used. Upon detecting a communication error or malfunction, the robotic vehicle switches to the emergency trajectory, which is designed to safely guide the vehicle to a nearby safe location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robotic vehicle uses a single primary trajectory for navigation, then the system complexity is low, but the safety is compromised when malfunctions occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-generates an emergency trajectory in advance alongside the primary trajectory. This preliminary action ensures that when a malfunction occurs, the vehicle immediately has a safe escape path available without needing to compute it in real-time during the emergency situation.
Solution Approach 2:
The emergency trajectory serves as a pre-prepared safety cushion or backup plan. By having this alternative trajectory ready beforehand, the system creates a safety buffer that protects against the harmful effects of potential malfunctions, allowing the vehicle to safely exit hazardous situations.
2Reliability
If the robotic vehicle stops immediately upon malfunction, then the response time is short, but the vehicle may stop in dangerous locations
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency trajectory is pre-computed and ready for immediate execution. When a malfunction is detected, the vehicle doesn't need to pause to calculate an escape path - the trajectory is already prepared, enabling instantaneous response while still guiding the vehicle to safe locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the vehicle to quickly skip through the emergency response process by having the trajectory pre-computed. The vehicle can rapidly execute the escape maneuver without lingering in hazardous situations, rushing through the critical emergency response phase.
3Manufacturing precision
If the robotic vehicle uses complex trajectory generation algorithms, then the navigation precision is high, but the computational load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trajectory generation is segmented into two distinct parts: primary trajectory for normal operation and emergency trajectory for malfunction scenarios. Each segment can be optimized independently, allowing complex algorithms to be used for the emergency trajectory without affecting the efficiency of normal navigation operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The emergency trajectory is computed in advance when computational resources are abundant, rather than during the emergency when energy might be constrained. This preliminary computation transfers the computational load to a different time when energy availability is different.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method for controlling movement of a robotic vehicle. The robotic vehicle comprises a computer system, a chassis controller, and a plurality of sensors. Data measured by the plurality of sensors is received by the computer system. A base trajectory and an emergency trajectory for the robotic vehicle are generated based on the data. During normal operations of the robotic vehicle the chassis controller causes the robotic vehicle to travel along the base trajectory. After determining that an error has occurred, the chassis controller causes the robotic vehicle to travel along the emergency trajectory.