Autonomous Vehicle Pullover Spot Selection After Local Failure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles face challenges in efficiently managing local failures during passenger or cargo transport, requiring quick and safe pullover spots for safe disembarkation and transfer to another vehicle, while minimizing trip interruptions.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle's computing devices detect local failures, determine suitable pullover spots that are safe and accessible for passenger or cargo transfer, and request assistance from a second vehicle through a fleet management system, ensuring continuity of the trip when possible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the vehicle continues operating after a local failure, then productivity is maintained, but safety and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of the failure impact before making the decision to continue or terminate the trip. Computing devices evaluate whether the local failure affects critical vehicle functions required for safe trip completion, and only then determine to continue operating or pull over, preventing unsafe operation while avoiding unnecessary trip interruptions
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors vehicle status and failure impact, using feedback from computing devices to dynamically adjust the decision to continue or terminate the trip. The fleet management system receives status updates and provides feedback on whether to maintain current operation or initiate pullover procedures
2Reliability
If the vehicle pulls over immediately after detecting a local failure, then safety is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to trip interruption
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of the failure impact before making the decision to pull over. Computing devices evaluate whether the local failure actually affects critical functions, and only initiate pullover procedures when necessary, avoiding unnecessary trip interruptions while maintaining safety
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle's computing devices autonomously assess the failure impact and make decisions about continuing or terminating the trip without requiring immediate human intervention. The system serves itself by evaluating its own operational status and making appropriate decisions, reducing unnecessary trip interruptions
3Reliability
If the vehicle requests a second vehicle for passenger or cargo transfer, then safety is improved, but time is lost during the transfer process
Solution Approach 1:
The system identifies and reserves suitable pullover spots in advance before the actual pullover event. The fleet management system pre-positions second vehicles near predicted pullover locations based on historical data and current vehicle positions, so that when a pullover is needed, the transfer can begin immediately with minimal delay
Solution Approach 2:
The fleet management system acts as an intermediary that coordinates between the failing vehicle, second vehicles, and pullover spot selection. It matches vehicles with appropriate second vehicles and identifies optimal transfer locations, streamlining the transfer process and reducing time loss through efficient coordination
4Ease of operation
If the vehicle identifies a suitable pullover spot with area for both parking and passenger/cargo transfer, then ease of operation is improved, but the complexity of finding such a spot increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fleet management system maintains a database of pullover spots that are pre-validated to meet multiple criteria simultaneously: adequate parking area, passenger disembarkation area, and cargo transfer area. This universal database of multi-functional spots simplifies the identification process, as the system only needs to query the database for pre-qualified spots rather than performing complex real-time analysis
Solution Approach 2:
The fleet management system acts as an intermediary that handles the complexity of spot identification and validation. It pre-processes and validates pullover spot characteristics, then provides simplified information to the vehicle's computing devices, reducing the computational burden on the vehicle while ensuring comprehensive spot suitability
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure provides for a method for determining a pullover spot for a vehicle (100). The method includes using a computing device (110) to detect information related to a system of the vehicle or an environment surrounding the vehicle using a sensor of a vehicle and determine a local failure of the vehicle based on the information. The computing device may then be used to determine that the vehicle should pullover before completing a current trip related to transporting a passenger or good by comparing vehicle requirements for the trip with the local failure and determine a pullover spot by identifying a first area (504) for the vehicle to park in part based on a second area (506) being available for a second vehicle to pick up the passenger or good. The computing device may operate the vehicle to the pullover spot and transmit a request for a second vehicle.