Autonomous Vehicle Mission Validation Against Corrupt Commands
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles are vulnerable to receiving corrupt or incorrect missions from centralized control systems, leading to potential loss of control, unauthorized operations, or unexpected behaviors like U-turns, due to the lack of error checking on the vehicle side.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method for pre-validation and real-time validation of missions on the vehicle, using a set of requirements to check and execute or reject missions, thereby reducing dependency on centralized systems and ensuring safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If error checking is done only at the centralized control system level, then the system architecture remains simple and centralized, but the autonomous vehicle becomes vulnerable to corrupt or incorrect missions leading to loss of control and unauthorized operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by implementing pre-validation of missions before execution. The control system validates the mission against a first set of requirements (such as checking if the mission is traversable, within authorized areas, and consistent with current vehicle heading) before the vehicle begins executing the mission. This prevents corrupt or incorrect missions from being executed, thereby improving reliability without requiring complex real-time monitoring during execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through real-time validation during mission execution. The control system continuously checks whether the mission meets a second set of requirements during execution, allowing the system to detect and respond to incorrect missions even after they start. This feedback mechanism ensures that unauthorized operations are prevented and vehicle control is maintained, addressing the reliability concern while distributing the validation burden across time rather than concentrating all complexity in one component.
2Reliability
If the vehicle autonomously validates missions locally, then dependency on centralized control system is reduced and safety is improved, but the computational load and processing requirements on the vehicle increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the validation process into distinct phases: pre-validation against a first set of requirements before mission execution, and real-time validation against a second set of requirements during execution. This segmentation allows the system to perform comprehensive validation without overwhelming the vehicle's processing capabilities at any single moment, as the computational tasks are distributed across different time periods and can be executed incrementally.
3Reliability
If comprehensive mission validation is performed, then unauthorized actions and unexpected behaviors are prevented, but the time required to execute valid missions increases due to additional checking steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs validation actions in advance before mission execution begins. By checking whether the mission meets the first set of requirements (including traversability, authorized areas, and heading consistency) before the vehicle starts executing the mission, the system prevents unauthorized operations from occurring while allowing valid missions to proceed without delays during execution. This preliminary validation approach minimizes the time loss during actual mission performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous real-time validation during mission execution to ensure that the mission continues to meet safety requirements. This continuous checking occurs in parallel with mission execution rather than interrupting it, allowing the system to maintain reliable operation while minimizing the impact on overall mission completion time. The validation process is integrated into the execution flow rather than being a separate sequential step.
Data Source
AI summary
The present application provides a method for autonomously controlling a vehicle performed by a control system of the vehicle on the basis of a mission received from a mission controller, the method comprising:receiving a mission comprising a set of instructions from the mission controller;validating the mission by checking whether the mission meets a first set of requirements;executing the mission if the mission meets the first set of requirements andrejecting the mission if the mission does not meet the first set of requirements.