Automated Vehicle Trajectory Planning for Obstruction Bypass
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated vehicles face challenges in safely navigating around obstacles, such as parked vehicles, as they may be delayed for extended periods, causing traffic congestion, and existing systems struggle to determine safe moments to veer out of their lane.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses sensors to detect obstructed lane conditions and neighboring lane actors, planning a trajectory for the vehicle to safely veer around obstacles by calculating temporal margins and generating motion control signals to either follow the trajectory or reduce speed, based on a required temporal buffer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the automated vehicle remains stopped behind the parked delivery truck until the truck moves, then collision avoidance is ensured, but travel time is delayed and traffic congestion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of the obstructed lane condition and neighboring lane safety before executing the veer maneuver. Sensors detect the parked truck and assess whether the neighboring lane is clear, allowing the vehicle to proceed with the bypass action rather than waiting passively for the obstruction to clear.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the vehicle's trajectory based on real-time sensor data. When an obstruction is detected in the current lane, the vehicle dynamically veers into the neighboring lane if safety conditions are met, rather than following a fixed lane-path protocol that would require stopping.
2Productivity
If the automated vehicle veers out of its lane to avoid obstacles, then travel time is reduced and congestion is minimized, but the risk of collision with moving actors in the neighboring lane increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the neighboring lane for moving actors using sensors during the trajectory planning and execution phases. Real-time feedback from sensor data allows the vehicle to detect moving actors and adjust or cancel the veer maneuver if safety conditions are not met, ensuring collision avoidance while enabling efficient bypass when safe.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary safety assessment of the neighboring lane before initiating the veer maneuver. By detecting moving actors in advance and evaluating their trajectories, the system determines whether it is safe to veer into the neighboring lane, preventing collisions while allowing efficient route bypass when conditions permit.
3Reliability
If the automated vehicle follows strict lane boundaries to prevent out-of-lane violation, then lane discipline is maintained, but the ability to bypass obstacles efficiently is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts lane boundary adherence based on detected conditions. When an obstruction is detected in the current lane, the vehicle transitions from strict lane-following mode to a controlled veer maneuver into the neighboring lane, maintaining lane discipline during normal operation while enabling efficient bypass when necessary and safe.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of lane boundary adherence from fixed (always maintain lane) to variable (maintain lane unless obstruction detected and neighboring lane is safe). This parameter change allows the vehicle to comply with lane discipline under normal conditions while enabling efficient obstacle bypass when conditions warrant the exception.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for navigating a vehicle to veer around a lane obstruction safely into a neighboring lane. The system may plan a trajectory around the obstructed lane. Over a temporal horizon, the system determines temporal margins by measuring an amount of time between a predicted state of a moving actor in the neighboring lane and a predicted state of the vehicle. The system identifies a minimum temporal margin of the temporal margins and determines whether the minimum temporal margin is equal to or larger than a required temporal buffer. If the minimum temporal margin is equal to or larger than the required temporal buffer, the system generates a motion control signal to cause the vehicle to follow the trajectory to veer around the obstruction into the neighboring lane. Otherwise, the system generates a motion control signal to cause the vehicle to reduce speed or stop.