Travel Route Calculation Device Avoiding Poor Feature Recognition

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing route guidance systems for vehicles, particularly autonomous drive vehicles, face challenges in recognizing traffic signals and other features at intersections due to factors like road shape and position of signals, leading to difficulties in determining appropriate actions even when the risk of isolation is low.

Innovation Solution

A travel route calculation device that acquires object information affecting feature recognition, measures necessary recognition distance, determines recognition difficulty, and calculates routes to avoid locations where feature recognition is challenging, ensuring the vehicle can readily perceive necessary features for decision-making.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the vehicle travels through intersections with low isolation risk, then the travel route efficiency is improved, but the vehicle cannot recognize traffic signals and features due to road shape and signal positions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetravel route efficiencyVSAvoidfeature recognition reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary evaluation of feature recognizability at each intersection before the vehicle arrives. By calculating recognition difficulty in advance based on road shape, traffic signal positions, and other environmental factors, the system can identify problematic intersections ahead of time and select alternative routes, preventing recognition failures rather than reacting to them after they occur.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary evaluation mechanism that assesses the recognizability of traffic signals and features at each intersection. This intermediary layer (the recognition difficulty evaluation unit) acts as a mediator between the route planning system and the actual vehicle navigation, filtering out intersections with poor recognition conditions and selecting only those with adequate feature visibility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If the vehicle avoids locations with difficult feature recognition, then the feature recognition accuracy is improved, but the travel route may become longer or more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefeature recognition accuracyVSAvoidtravel route complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the parameter of route selection by introducing recognition difficulty as a new criterion alongside traditional factors like distance and traffic. By evaluating and comparing recognition difficulty parameters across multiple candidate routes, the system can balance between route efficiency and feature recognizability, selecting routes that optimize both travel time and recognition accuracy without excessive complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If the system evaluates recognition difficulty at each intersection, then the feature recognition reliability is improved, but the calculation complexity and time increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefeature recognition reliabilityVSAvoidcalculation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the route evaluation process by assessing recognition difficulty at discrete intersection points rather than continuously along the entire route. This segmentation allows the system to focus computational resources on critical decision points where feature recognition is most important, reducing overall calculation complexity while maintaining reliability at key locations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3211374B1Travel route calculation device
Publication Date: 2020.12.16 NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD
  • EP3211374B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3211374B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3211374B1 patent drawingFigure 3A

AI summary

The travel route calculation device includes a travel route calculation unit configured to calculate a travel route for a subject vehicle to arrive at a destination, an information acquisition unit configured to acquire information on an object, which affects recognition of a feature by the subject vehicle, as object information, and a distance measurement unit configured to measure a distance from the subject vehicle to the feature as a necessary recognition distance. The necessary recognition distance is necessary for the subject vehicle to recognize the feature when deciding an action of the subject vehicle. The travel route calculation device further includes a determination unit configured to determine difficulty in recognizing the feature, on the basis of the object information and the necessary recognition distance. The travel route calculation unit calculates the travel route while avoiding a location at which recognition of the feature is determined to be difficult by the determination unit.