Vehicle Sensor Accuracy Verification via Fleet Data Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicles equipped with environmental sensors often face difficulties in determining when these sensors are not operating properly, leading to potential safety issues due to incorrect object detection or false positives, as drivers rarely conduct maintenance checks and may struggle to assess sensor functionality.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle environmental sensing evaluation system that wirelessly communicates with multiple vehicles to generate reports of infrastructure issues, compares data with other vehicles to assess sensor accuracy, and notifies the vehicle and its owner of potential sensor problems if other vehicles do not detect the same issues, using V2X communication protocols and a confidence module to determine sensor reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If environmental sensors are installed in vehicles to detect road infrastructure issues, then the ability to recognize nearby objects such as line markings, road signs, and obstacles is improved, but the difficulty of determining when sensors are not operating properly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by comparing sensor detections from multiple vehicles against a shared database of confirmed infrastructure issues. When a vehicle's sensor detects an issue, the system verifies it against other vehicles' data and feedback loops, allowing drivers to receive notifications about sensor accuracy without manually verifying sensor operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary evaluation system that acts as a mediator between individual vehicle sensors and the final detection accuracy assessment. This intermediary system aggregates data from multiple vehicles, compares detections, and provides objective evaluation of sensor performance, eliminating the need for drivers to directly verify sensor operation.
2Reliability
If drivers manually check sensor operation to verify proper functioning, then sensor reliability can be assessed, but the ease of operation decreases and maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by allowing sensors to automatically evaluate their own operation through comparison with other vehicles' detections. The sensor system performs self-diagnosis by checking whether its detections align with the collective data from the fleet, automatically identifying and reporting issues without driver intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal evaluation system that serves multiple functions simultaneously: it monitors sensor operation, verifies detection accuracy, provides driver notifications, and maintains a shared database of infrastructure issues. This multi-functional system replaces the need for separate manual verification procedures.
3Measurement precision
If sensor data is compared across multiple vehicles to verify detection accuracy, then false positives can be reduced, but the device complexity and communication requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges individual vehicle sensor data with a centralized database and other vehicles' detections into a unified evaluation framework. By combining multiple data sources and processing them through a common platform, the system achieves high detection accuracy while distributing computational complexity across the fleet rather than concentrating it in a single complex device.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer system is in wireless communication with a plurality of vehicles, each of the vehicles equipped with appropriate environmental sensors. Environmental reports are sent from the autonomous vehicles to the computer system using a V2X protocol or the like, and relate to such matters as worn line markings, obstacles on the roadway, and other conditions. The computer system is configured to evaluate the received environmental reports for accuracy. A comparison with similar environmental reports is made, and if there are few or no such reports for the location, an indication is reported to the vehicle that the vehicle's sensors may have a problem. The evaluation can be presented with a degree of confidence, taking into consideration various factors such as frequency of vehicles traversing the location, weather, time of day, etc.