Autonomous Vehicle Liability Ledger With Smart Contract Enforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack a trusted mechanism to automatically enforce liability arrangements associated with autonomous vehicles, particularly in shifting control states between manual and autonomous modes, leading to uncertainties in liability distribution among operators, insurers, and manufacturers.
Innovation Solution
A distributed ledger system that records and enforces smart contracts, using a blockchain to compile transactions related to autonomous vehicle operations, determining priority, forming consensus, and automatically executing actions based on trigger conditions, such as collisions or control states, to assign liability accurately.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a distributed ledger system with smart contracts is implemented to automatically enforce liability arrangements, then liability assignment accuracy and transparency are improved, but system complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a distributed ledger system with smart contracts as an intermediary layer between autonomous vehicles, insurers, and manufacturers. This intermediary automatically enforces liability arrangements by recording transactions immutably and executing predefined smart contracts, thereby improving liability assignment accuracy while managing system complexity through automated rule-based enforcement rather than manual processes
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service through autonomous vehicles that automatically generate and transmit liability-related transactions to the distributed ledger. The smart contracts autonomously evaluate transaction data, determine liability assignment, and execute enforcement actions without human intervention, improving accuracy while reducing the operational complexity of manual liability determination
2Reliability
If blockchain technology is used to create a trusted and immutable record of autonomous vehicle transactions, then reliability and trust among stakeholders are improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-programming smart contracts with the rules and logic for liability determination before transactions occur. These smart contracts are deployed on the distributed ledger in advance, so when transactions are recorded, the enforcement mechanism is already in place and ready to execute automatically, reducing processing time while maintaining reliability through predetermined, immutable rules
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the liability enforcement process into distinct modular components: transaction generation by autonomous vehicles, transaction validation by network nodes, smart contract evaluation, and enforcement action execution. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple transactions simultaneously, reducing overall processing time while maintaining the reliability of the immutable blockchain record
3Extent of automation
If smart contracts automatically execute actions based on trigger conditions such as collisions or control states, then automation and efficiency are improved, but difficulty in detecting and measuring trigger conditions accurately increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where autonomous vehicles continuously monitor and report their operational state, control mode, and environmental data to the distributed ledger. This real-time feedback enables smart contracts to accurately detect trigger conditions by comparing incoming data against predefined thresholds and criteria, improving automation while managing detection difficulty through continuous data validation and cross-verification from multiple vehicle sensors
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for maintaining a distributed ledger and/or blockchain of transactions and/or events pertaining to autonomous vehicles and/or smart contracts. An enforcement server may receive indications of transactions and/or events generated by one or more autonomous vehicles. The transactions and/or events may include information relating to a trigger condition and/or a decision condition associated with one or more smart contracts. The enforcement server may route the transaction to the appropriate smart contract to determine whether a trigger condition has been satisfied. When a trigger condition is satisfied, the enforcement server may automatically perform an action to enforce the smart contract and/or update the distributed ledger. In some aspects, the distributed ledger may record events associated with autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle technology or system usage, including events associated with transitioning between manual and autonomous control, or vice versa, of one or more autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles.