Vehicle Control Handover With Pending State Input Blending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous vehicles lack efficient mechanisms for seamless transitions between manual and autonomous driving modes, leading to potential safety issues and suboptimal user experience.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control unit with a control manager that integrates sensor data to determine switching criteria, employs a pending switching state to combine driver and autonomous inputs, and provides notifications for smooth mode transitions, ensuring safe and controlled shifts between manual and autonomous driving.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If direct mode switching is implemented without transition state, then switching speed is improved, but safety and control stability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by entering a pending switching state before completing the mode transition. This intermediate state allows the system to prepare for mode switching by gradually blending control inputs, ensuring safety conditions are met before full transition occurs
Solution Approach 2:
The pending switching state acts as an intermediary between manual and autonomous modes. During this state, control inputs from both modes are combined with weighting factors, providing a smooth transition that maintains control stability while enabling mode switching
2Stability of the object's composition
If control inputs from both modes are combined directly, then control stability deteriorates, but transition smoothness is improved
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the weighting factors applied to control inputs from different modes based on the current switching state. This dynamic adjustment allows smooth transitions while maintaining control stability at each stage of the transition process
Solution Approach 2:
The pending switching state performs preliminary blending of control inputs with controlled weighting, preparing the system for full mode transition while maintaining stability. This gradual introduction of the new mode's control inputs prevents abrupt changes
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed for switching between a manual driving mode and an autonomous driving mode. A system for switching driving modes can include a vehicle control unit in communication with a plurality of sensors and a plurality of vehicle controls of an autonomous vehicle. The vehicle control unit can include a control manager configured to receive a request to switch driving modes from a first mode to a second mode, obtain a driving state using the plurality of sensors, determine the driving state meets a switching standard, enter a pending switching state in which a control input received for the first mode is combined with a control input received for the second mode to generate a vehicle control output, send a message indicating that the driving mode is to switch from the first mode to the second mode, and switch driving modes from the first mode to the second mode.