Autonomous Vehicle Emergency Assistance Location Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles lack the ability to effectively operate in emergency situations, as they are not informed of such events and therefore do not modify their operation to optimize response or assistance.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that detects emergency situations using sensors, determines the location of emergency vehicles, calculates an assistance location for the autonomous vehicle, and generates vehicle control instructions to modify its operation, allowing it to travel to the assistance location and receive assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If autonomous vehicles operate without emergency situation awareness, then their normal operation is maintained, but their response efficiency and safety in emergency situations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments emergency detection into separate functional modules: sensor units for detecting emergency events, communication units for receiving emergency information, and processing units for determining assistance locations. This modular approach enables the autonomous vehicle to independently handle emergency situation awareness without affecting normal operation systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by proactively detecting emergency situations before they become critical, determining assistance locations in advance, and preparing control instructions ahead of time. This allows the vehicle to respond more efficiently when emergency situations arise, improving safety and response time.
2Loss of time
If autonomous vehicles modify operation to respond to emergencies, then response time and safety improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses communication units as intermediaries to receive emergency information from external sources and transmit assistance location data to emergency services. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall system by handling complex communication protocols through dedicated modules rather than requiring the entire control system to manage all aspects of emergency response.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous vehicle's control system automatically generates and executes control instructions to modify vehicle operation in response to detected emergencies without requiring human intervention. The system determines assistance locations and adjusts routing autonomously, reducing the complexity burden on external control systems while improving response time.
3Productivity
If autonomous vehicles determine assistance locations and transmit data to emergency vehicles, then operational efficiency in emergencies improves, but information processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for emergency response: the vehicle's current location, the determined assistance location, and relevant operational status data. By extracting and transmitting only this critical subset of information rather than complete operational data, the system improves communication efficiency while reducing information processing loads on both the vehicle and emergency response systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for modifying operation of an autonomous vehicle in an emergency situation are disclosed. According to aspects, a computing device associated with the autonomous vehicle detects, based on sensor(s), an emergency event associated with the autonomous vehicle. In response to detecting the emergency event, the computing device determines location(s) of emergency vehicle(s) and determines an assistance location for the autonomous vehicle. The computing device determines which of the emergency vehicle(s) is a nearest emergency vehicle that is nearest to the assistance location, and transmits the assistance location to the nearest emergency vehicle. The computing device then causes the autonomous vehicle to travel to the assistance location.