V2X Lane Change Path Negotiation for Mixed-Traffic Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
In mixed environments with autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, existing lane change decision-making processes based solely on sensor data can lead to dangerous situations due to variability in driver behavior. Additionally, complex road environments in cities can cause excessive computational load on autonomous driving systems when predicting paths of multiple approaching vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing V2X communication to share planned pathways and location information between vehicles, allowing a first vehicle to generate an expected dynamic path to a safety target arrival position on a target lane and transmit this information to a second vehicle. The second vehicle then calculates an expected inter-vehicle distance and degree of risk, deciding whether to accept a negotiation request to facilitate a safe lane change.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If lane change decisions are made solely based on sensor data from autonomous vehicles, then the autonomous driving system can operate independently, but dangerous situations occur due to variability in driver behavior of non-autonomous vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces V2X communication as an intermediary between vehicles and infrastructure. The roadside unit (RSU) acts as a mediator that collects sensor data from multiple vehicles and the autonomous vehicle, processes this information centrally, and provides coordinated lane change recommendations. This mediator resolves the conflict between autonomous decision-making and safety by enabling cooperative awareness of all road users' intentions and states.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges sensor data from multiple sources including the autonomous vehicle's own sensors, other vehicles' sensors transmitted via V2X, and roadside infrastructure sensors. This combined multi-vehicle sensor fusion creates a comprehensive situational awareness that accounts for the behavioral patterns of all road users, not just the autonomous vehicle, thereby improving lane change safety while maintaining automation.
2Loss of information
If complex path predictions are calculated for multiple approaching vehicles in complex road environments, then complete path information is obtained, but excessive computational load is imposed on the autonomous driving system
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the path prediction task by dividing it into two parts: (1) The autonomous vehicle performs simplified immediate path prediction for nearby vehicles using V2X received data, and (2) The roadside unit performs more complex aggregate path analysis for multiple vehicles. This segmentation reduces the computational burden on the autonomous vehicle's onboard system while maintaining comprehensive path information through the distributed architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The roadside unit serves as an intermediary that handles the computationally intensive task of predicting paths for multiple approaching vehicles. By offloading this complex calculation to the roadside infrastructure, the autonomous vehicle's onboard system avoids excessive computational load while still accessing accurate path prediction results through V2X communication.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a method for (i) sharing a pathway of a first vehicle which is driving a host lane with a pathway of a second vehicle which is driving a target lane, which allows the first vehicle to generate an expected dynamic path, by referring to a first current position of the first vehicle and a second current position of a second vehicle, (ii) transmitting the expected dynamic path and a negotiation request to the second vehicle, by the first vehicle, thereby allowing the second vehicle to calculate an expected inter-vehicle distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle and a degree of risk, which are used to decide whether to accept the negotiation request, and (iii) changing or maintaining a driving lane, by referring to information on whether to accept the negotiation request.