Automated Vehicle Safe-Stop-Zone Mapping Controller
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to effectively navigate vehicles into safe-stop-zones during emergency situations, particularly when human operators are incapacitated or unable to assume control, and there is a need for a system that can autonomously identify and guide vehicles to safe areas for stopping without causing traffic hazards or congestion.
Innovation Solution
A safe-stop-zone mapping system that includes a digital map and a controller, which communicates to navigate the vehicle into a designated safe area, utilizing GPS, optical recognition, and wireless communication to identify and update safe zones, ensuring safe stopping without obstructing traffic or communication signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the vehicle stops on the roadway during an emergency situation, then the vehicle can quickly halt, but it causes traffic hazards and congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the stopping function from the main roadway by identifying and navigating to dedicated safe-stop-zones (shoulders, parking lots, rest areas) where vehicles can halt without interfering with through-traffic. This separates the emergency stopping need from the traffic flow path.
Solution Approach 2:
The safe-stop-zone acts as an intermediary location between the roadway and complete vehicle shutdown. It provides a buffer zone where vehicles can stop temporarily during emergencies without directly impacting traffic flow, mediating between the need to stop and the need to maintain traffic movement.
2Reliability
If the operator is required to assume manual control during an emergency, then human judgment can be applied, but the operator may be incapacitated or unprepared
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically identifying safe-stop-zones and navigating the vehicle there before the operator needs to make decisions. The controller proactively manages the emergency response by autonomously guiding the vehicle to safety, eliminating the need for immediate operator intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated-vehicle performs self-service during emergencies by autonomously detecting safe-stop-zones and navigating to them without human assistance. The system serves its own safety needs by maintaining capability for autonomous operation even when the operator is incapacitated.
3Ease of operation
If the vehicle navigates to a safe-stop-zone autonomously, then operator intervention is not needed, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller serves multiple functions: it manages normal vehicle operation, detects emergency situations, identifies safe-stop-zones using digital-map data, and executes navigation to those zones. This multi-functionality consolidates complex capabilities into a single control system rather than requiring separate specialized systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital-map is pre-populated with safe-stop-zone locations and characteristics before emergencies occur. The system prepares navigation data and identifies accessible stopping locations in advance, so that during an emergency, the controller can quickly execute pre-planned routing without complex real-time decision-making.
Data Source
AI summary
A safe-stop-zone mapping system suitable for use on an automated-vehicle includes a digital-map and a controller. The digital-map indicates a travel-path suitable for travel by a host-vehicle. The digital-map also indicates a safe-stop-zone proximate to the travel-path. The controller is in communication with the digital-map. The controller is configured to navigate the host-vehicle into the safe-stop-zone when an emergency-situation occurs.