Vehicle Safety Computing Architecture for Post-Failure Safe Stop
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated vehicles face challenges in ensuring safe operation after a critical component, such as a vehicle computing platform, fails, as they are unable to perform necessary calculations for safe navigation and object detection, leading to potential hazards.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a vehicle safety system with serialized or combined serial-parallel computing architectures that allow for continued safe operation by generating and sending vehicle control commands to actuation systems, utilizing future trajectory information and sensor data to initiate safety responses, such as deceleration and lane changes, even after component failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single main vehicle computing platform is used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates when the platform fails
Solution Approach 1:
The computing platform is segmented into a main vehicle computing platform and a secondary vehicle computing platform. The secondary platform is specifically designed to take over safety-critical functions when the main platform fails, thereby improving reliability without significantly increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements beforehand cushioning by pre-configuring the secondary vehicle computing platform as a backup safety system. This secondary platform is prepared in advance to assume critical safety functions if the main platform fails, ensuring continuous safe operation without requiring complex real-time reconfiguration.
2Reliability
If automated safety response measures are implemented, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional computing architectures
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic switching between the main and secondary computing platforms based on operational conditions. The vehicle safety system can dynamically determine whether to use the main platform or switch to the secondary platform, providing adaptive reliability improvement without requiring permanently complex architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle safety system acts as an intermediary layer between the computing platforms and the vehicle actuation system. It receives trajectory information from either platform, determines appropriate safety responses, and sends control commands to actuators, thereby managing complexity while ensuring reliable safety responses.
3Reliability
If future trajectory information is stored for safety responses, then reliability is improved after failure, but loss of information increases due to storage requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential future trajectory information needed for safety responses rather than storing complete trajectory data. By taking out only the critical portions of trajectory information required for safe stopping and navigation, the system improves post-failure reliability while minimizing data storage requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media for implementing automated vehicle safety response measures to ensure continued safe automated vehicle operation for a limited period of time after a vehicle component or vehicle system that supports an automated vehicle driving function fails. When a critical vehicle component/system such as a vehicle computing platform fails, the vehicle is likely no longer capable of performing calculations required to safely operate and navigate the vehicle in an autonomous manner, or at a minimum, is no longer able to ensure the accuracy of such calculations. In such a scenario, the automated vehicle safety response measures disclosed herein can ensure—despite failure of the vehicle component/system—continued safe automated operation of the vehicle for a limited period of time in order to bring the vehicle to a safe stop.