Self-Driving Vehicle Allocation Using Rider Driving Skills

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional technologies face challenges in ensuring self-driving vehicles continue to operate when they become unable to run autonomously, particularly when the number of non-operational vehicles exceeds the number of available operators for remote control.

Innovation Solution

An information processing method and system that allocate self-driving vehicles to riders based on their driving skills, ensuring that capable riders are distributed across multiple vehicles, thereby reducing the need for operator intervention and preventing vehicle operations from stopping.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If self-driving vehicles operate autonomously without operator intervention, then productivity increases, but reliability decreases when vehicles become unable to run autonomously

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoperational efficiencyVSAvoidoperational continuity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary allocation of capable riders to self-driving vehicles before autonomous operation begins. By pre-distributing riders with driving skills across multiple vehicles, the system ensures that when autonomous operation fails, manual intervention is immediately available, thus maintaining operational continuity without reducing productivity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If operators remotely control all self-driving vehicles, then reliability is maintained, but device complexity and loss of time increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoperational controlVSAvoidoperator intervention system

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-driving vehicles to serve themselves by having capable riders onboard who can manually operate the vehicle when autonomous operation fails. This eliminates the need for a complex remote control system to manage all vehicles, as the vehicles have self-capability through allocated riders, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If operators remotely control self-driving vehicles, then operational continuity is maintained, but loss of time occurs when matching operators to vehicles

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoperational continuityVSAvoidoperator allocation time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary allocation of capable riders to specific self-driving vehicles based on driving skills and vehicle requirements. This pre-allocation eliminates the need for time-consuming matching operations when vehicles need manual intervention, as the capable riders are already assigned and ready, thus reducing loss of time while maintaining operational continuity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12205469B2Information processing method and information processing system

Publication Date: 2025.01.21 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD

AI summary

An information processing method to be executed by a computer, the information processing method including: obtaining a self-driving vehicle list and a rider list; obtaining a driving skill of each of a plurality of riders included in the rider list, the driving skill indicating whether the rider is capable of driving; allocating a plurality of self-driving vehicles included in the self-driving vehicle list to the plurality of riders in accordance with the driving skill of each of the plurality of riders to distribute riders capable of driving, among the plurality of riders, across the plurality of self-driving vehicle; and outputting a result of the allocating.