Autonomous Vehicle Wildlife Avoidance Using Light and Sound Cues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in safely navigating wildlife on roads, as animals may not react to their presence like they do to human-operated vehicles, leading to potential collisions that can harm animals, damage vehicles, and pose risks to human-operated vehicles.
Innovation Solution
The system disables lighting and enables sound-generating devices or alternative light sources that do not impair animal perception, combined with trajectory adjustments such as slowing down or changing path to avoid collisions with wildlife.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If lighting apparatus is used to detect animals, then detection capability is improved, but animal perception is impaired causing unpredictable reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses different types of lighting for different purposes: visible light for animal detection by sensors, and infrared/thermal imaging for monitoring animal response without startling them. This local differentiation of light quality resolves the contradiction between detection capability and animal perception preservation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces infrared and thermal imaging as intermediary detection methods that do not affect animal behavior. These intermediaries allow the autonomous vehicle to detect animals and monitor their reactions without using visible light that would startle or confuse the animals.
2Speed
If sound-generating devices are enabled to urge animals to move, then animal displacement is improved, but animal stress may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sound-generating device is activated periodically or in specific sequences rather than continuously. The system uses intermittent acoustic signals to urge animals to move, allowing periods of silence that reduce stress while maintaining displacement effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adjusts sound parameters such as frequency, intensity, and duration based on animal response. By dynamically changing these parameters, the system achieves effective animal displacement while minimizing stress through lower intensity sounds when possible.
3Productivity
If autonomous vehicle maintains current trajectory, then travel efficiency is improved, but collision risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection and assessment of animal presence and behavior before the autonomous vehicle reaches collision risk levels. By taking preliminary actions to detect and respond to animals early, the system can adjust trajectory in advance, maintaining both travel efficiency and safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors animal response to urging actions and uses this feedback to determine whether trajectory adjustment is necessary. The feedback loop allows the vehicle to maintain original trajectory when safe while automatically adjusting when collision risk increases, balancing efficiency and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are methods and systems to avoid collisions with animals. In an example, a method comprises receiving, by a processor, an indication that a current trajectory of an autonomous vehicle is associated with a likelihood of a collision that satisfies a collision threshold indicating a potential collision with an animal having an attribute that satisfies a threshold; disabling, by the processor, at least one lighting apparatus associated with the autonomous vehicle; and enabling, by the processor, a sound-generating device associated with the autonomous vehicle.