Vehicle Virtual Boundary Control for Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Planning a path for a vehicle, especially when considering the possible paths of other moving objects, is challenging due to the complexity of navigating around various obstacles like other vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles in an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle system.
Innovation Solution
A system that determines a virtual boundary for a vehicle based on its shape, identifies objects using sensor data, and adjusts propulsion, steering, or braking by performing optimization operations on a control barrier function to avoid collisions, including determining derivatives of distance functions and maximum allowed deceleration and steering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the vehicle uses a fixed path planning method, then the control system is simple, but the vehicle cannot adapt to dynamic environments with moving obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic path planning by making the virtual boundary adjustable and reconfigurable in real-time based on detected objects and their motion trajectories. The control system continuously updates the virtual boundary parameters (position, orientation, size) to adapt to changing environmental conditions, transforming a static control approach into a dynamic one that responds to moving obstacles while maintaining manageable system complexity through parameter-based adaptation
2Reliability
If the vehicle uses a virtual boundary based on vehicle shape, then collision avoidance is improved, but the computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent represents the virtual boundary using a set of parameters (position, orientation, size) that define a geometric shape corresponding to the vehicle body. By changing these parameters dynamically based on detected objects and collision risk assessments, the system achieves improved collision avoidance. The computational complexity is managed by using parameter-based representation rather than full geometric modeling, allowing efficient calculation and adjustment of the virtual boundary
3Measurement precision
If the vehicle performs optimization operations on control barrier functions, then path planning accuracy is improved, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-defines the virtual boundary based on the vehicle body shape before path planning operations. This preliminary establishment of the virtual boundary provides a ready-made constraint framework that guides subsequent optimization operations on control barrier functions. By having the virtual boundary prepared in advance, the system reduces the computational burden during real-time path planning, achieving both high accuracy and efficient processing time
Data Source
AI summary
A system for detecting a road surface includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to determine a virtual boundary for a vehicle body based on a shape of the vehicle body, to identify one or more objects based on vehicle sensor data, based on the identified one or more objects, the determined virtual boundary, and an input to at least one of propulsion, steering, or braking, to determine at least one of a braking override or a steering override, and based on the determination, to perform at least one of adjusting a vehicle steering and a vehicle speed.