Self-Driving Vehicle Pick-Up Location Selection for Rider Rendezvous
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in efficiently performing pick-ups in crowded or complex areas due to their inability to communicate effectively using human gestures, leading to potential delays or failed rendezvous.
Innovation Solution
A self-driving vehicle system that communicates with a transport facilitation system to identify and select optimal pick-up locations based on historical data and real-time sensor information, using hierarchical algorithms to maximize pick-up efficiency and seamlessness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the self-driving vehicle stops at the original stop location, then the vehicle maintains its scheduled operation, but the rider may not be able to locate the vehicle in unfamiliar or dimly lit areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a communication system as an intermediary between the vehicle and rider. This system includes a communication device in the vehicle that transmits location information to the rider's mobile device, enabling the rider to locate the vehicle without increasing physical vehicle complexity. The intermediary communication channel resolves the contradiction by providing reliable location information through a separate information transmission pathway.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical/physical location indication methods (such as physical markers or visible vehicle features) with an electronic communication system. Instead of relying on the rider to physically locate the vehicle through environmental cues, the system uses electronic transmission of location data to the rider's mobile device, substituting a mechanical location-finding process with an information-based solution.
2Reliability
If the vehicle uses complex communication systems to notify riders of location changes, then rider pick-up reliability improves, but device complexity and implementation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the rider's existing mobile device to perform communication functions. Rather than requiring a dedicated complex communication system in the vehicle, the solution uses the universally carried smartphone to receive and display location information. This multi-functional approach uses an existing device for multiple purposes (navigation, communication, information display), reducing the need for specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the rider to self-serve by providing location information directly to their personal mobile device. The rider independently receives notifications and location data without requiring complex vehicle-side communication infrastructure. The vehicle simply transmits information, and the rider's own device handles display and interaction, reducing the burden on the vehicle system.
Data Source
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AI summary
A control system of a self-driving vehicle (SDV) can process sensor data from the sensor system to autonomously operate acceleration, braking, and steering systems of the SDV throughout a given region. The control system can receive a transport directive from a transport facilitation system to service a pick-up request from a requesting user, the transport directive indicating an inputted pick-up location by the requesting user. The control system can then autonomously operate the acceleration, braking, and steering systems along a current route to a pick-up area encompassing the inputted pick-up location. The control system can further determine a corresponding set of pick-up location options for the pick-up area, and as the SDV approaches the pick-up area, perform a hierarchical operation to identify, via the sensor data, an optimal pick-up location to rendezvous with the requesting user.