Shape-Shifting Control Surface for Tactile Lane Position Input
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles do not accommodate personal driving preferences of experienced drivers, leading to discomfort when encountering situations like passing or being passed by large or fast-moving vehicles, as they maintain standard lane positions without adjusting for individual preferences.
Innovation Solution
A proprioceptive input/output device is integrated into autonomous vehicles, allowing occupants to receive tactile feedback about external conditions and provide input to adjust the vehicle's navigation actions, such as lane position, through a bidirectional proprioceptive system that changes shape in response to detected conditions and receives user input forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If autonomous vehicle controllers maintain standard lane position optimization, then autonomous navigation efficiency is improved, but occupant comfort and personal driving preferences deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The control surface is designed to be dynamically reconfigurable, changing its physical shape from a flat surface to a three-dimensional topographic map that reflects real-time environmental conditions. This dynamic transformation allows the system to adapt between efficient autonomous navigation and occupant-preferred lane positions without requiring manual intervention or visual attention.
Solution Approach 2:
The control surface creates a tactile copy of the external environment by forming raised features that correspond to detected objects, vehicles, or road conditions. This tactile representation allows occupants to intuitively understand spatial relationships and provide input based on personal preferences without visually searching for controls.
2Stability of the object's composition
If autonomous vehicles maintain normal lane position during passing incidents, then navigation stability is improved, but experienced driver comfort deteriorates due to insufficient margin for error
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides continuous tactile feedback to the occupant through the shape-shifting control surface, which dynamically adjusts its topography to reflect detected conditions such as passing vehicles or road hazards. This feedback loop allows experienced drivers to intuitively adjust lane position based on personal comfort preferences while maintaining overall navigation stability.
3Loss of information
If occupants use display screens to receive information and control the vehicle, then information delivery is improved, but driver attention and safety deteriorate due to visual distraction
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces visual display screens with a tactile, proprioceptive interface that communicates environmental information and accepts control input through touch and shape perception. This mechanical substitution eliminates visual distraction while maintaining comprehensive information delivery about external conditions and vehicle status.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for interactions with an autonomous vehicle includes a proprioceptive device; and a controller. The controller is configured to: detect a first condition external to the autonomous vehicle; generate a first proprioceptive output in response to the first condition, the first proprioceptive output changing a shape of the proprioceptive device; receive a first input force from the proprioceptive device; determine a first user input based on the first input force; and, based on the first user input, cause the autonomous vehicle to perform a navigation action.