Vehicle Safety System Mechanical Blocking Device Mode Transition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles lack a reliable mechanism to prevent entering public roads from designated areas, posing a safety risk to road traffic, as existing solutions either hinder other users or require significant coordination efforts.
Innovation Solution
A safety system that uses a mechanical blocking device, detected by the vehicle's sensors, to remain closed in autonomous mode and open only when the vehicle transitions to non-autonomous mode, ensuring the vehicle does not exit designated areas by requiring a driver's intervention or specific safety conditions to be met.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the piloted driving mode remains switched on after the driver decides to switch to autonomous driving mode, then the driver has control of the vehicle, but the vehicle presents a danger to road traffic when operated autonomously
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting the mechanical blocking device before the vehicle can exit the designated area, and by requiring mode transition to be completed before the blocking device is actuated. This ensures safety conditions are verified in advance, preventing dangerous autonomous operation on public roads while maintaining smooth driver control transitions.
2Extent of automation
If parts of the route are blocked for other vehicles to enable autonomous parking, then the vehicle can drive autonomously through the blocked section, but other motor vehicles or road users are prevented from moving freely
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the safety verification function from the route blocking mechanism itself. Instead of blocking routes to ensure safety, the system separates the blocking function from the safety verification, using a distinct mode detection and communication mechanism. This allows autonomous vehicles to operate without preventing other road users from moving freely.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical blocking device serves as an intermediary between the autonomous vehicle and the route exit. Rather than directly blocking routes, the blocking device is actuated based on mode transition detection, mediating between autonomous operation requirements and public road access. This intermediary mechanism ensures safety without requiring route blocking coordination.
3Reliability
If a mechanical blocking device is used to prevent autonomous vehicles from entering public roads, then safety is improved, but the system complexity increases due to coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous vehicle performs self-service by autonomously detecting its own driving mode and autonomously actuating the mechanical blocking device based on mode transitions. The vehicle's control system automatically communicates mode changes and triggers blocking device activation without external coordination, reducing system complexity while maintaining safety.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a procedure for operating a safety system for a motor vehicle for driving beyond a system boundary. The motor vehicle moves autonomously within a predetermined area, defined by the system boundary, in an autonomous driving mode from a delivery point to a predetermined position and back to the delivery point. To drive beyond the system boundary, a mechanical blocking device of the safety system is first detected by a detection device of the motor vehicle, the mechanical blocking device forming part of the system boundary. Subsequently, a current driving mode of the motor vehicle is detected. Next, a driving mode message is output by a communication device of the motor vehicle for opening the mechanical blocking device. Finally, the mechanical blocking device is opened when the motor vehicle is in a non-autonomous driving mode according to the driving mode message.