Patent Publication Number: US-2023133577-A1

Title: Method for controlling a fleet of autonomous/remotely operated vehicles

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a method and system for controlling a fleet of at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Autonomous vehicles, such as autonomous trucks and cars, are known to use advanced algorithms, decision logic schemes and artificial intelligence (AI) to introduce an artificial control method and eliminate the need for a human driver. An increased level of automation could make transportation of goods and people both more efficient and cost effective. 
     Vehicles that operate autonomously use data from sensors observing the environment of the vehicle, such as visibility and presence of pedestrians, as well as sensors observing the properties of the vehicle, such as its speed or acceleration. The algorithms, decision logic schemes or AI uses the available sensor data for deriving a proper way to manoeuvre the vehicle through said environment. The safety and reliability of an autonomous vehicle depends in part on the performance of the sensors and in part on the performance of the implementation of the autonomous control. 
     A problem with autonomous vehicles is that the safety of operating such vehicles cannot always be guaranteed and legislation may prevent them from being used in complicated road situations where the confidence level of the autonomous control is low, for instance in situations with much traffic. 
     To circumvent these issues traditional solutions include it has been proposed using a human observer that continuously monitors the operation of the vehicle and is prepared to assume control in situations when the artificial control is deemed insufficient or unsafe. However, using a human observer that continuously monitors the vehicle may at least partly defeats the purpose of autonomous vehicle not needing a human driver. 
     To this end, it has been proposed that an autonomous vehicle can “ask” for help when it cannot take a decision. See for example US2015248131 and US2016370801. 
     Furthermore, teleoperation of an (otherwise) autonomous vehicle has been proposed. The Applicant of the present application, Einride AB, has for example demonstrated a 5G-connected transportation solution wherein a human user can teleoperate Einride&#39;s autonomous, all-electric, cab-less truck (“pod”). That is, the user can remotely drive the truck from a remote location relative to the truck. 
     However, if a (large) fleet of vehicles is to be monitored or remotely driven, a transportation service provider has to figure out how many human observers or teleoperators are needed to handle the fleet. Too many, and the system is not as efficient as it could be. Too few, and there is a risk that vehicles are stranded on the roads. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for efficiently and safely controlling a fleet of autonomous/remotely operated vehicles. 
     The invention is defined by the appended independent claims, with embodiments being set forth in the appended dependent claims, in the following description, and in the drawings. 
     According to a first aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided a method for controlling a fleet of at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, wherein the method comprises: 
     assigning to each of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles a pre-determined route comprising a (second) road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, 
     determining a time overlap of said road segments of the pre-determined routes assigned to the at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, and 
     based on the determined time overlap, inserting a delay or a speedup in a (first) road segment of the pre-determined route of at least one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, which road segment is to be autonomously driven and precedes the road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, so that said (second) road segments no longer overlap in time. 
     The present invention is at least partly based on the understanding that by using pre-determined routes with road segments which each may have an associated driving mode (e.g. autonomous driving or remote driving), it becomes possible to predict approximately when an autonomous/remotely operated vehicle will drive autonomously and when it will (be in a driving mode that) require that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomously/remotely operated vehicle. However, when operating a fleet of autonomously/remotely driven vehicles, the need for assistance or driving by a teleoperator might occur or be planned to occur at the same time for several vehicles. To this end, the present invention is further based on the understanding that by adjusting the first autonomous drive road segment of the route of at least one of two autonomously/remotely driven vehicles, i.e. inserting a delay or a speedup, they may not need assistance or remote driving at the same time. Thus, peaks in demand can be removed, and fewer teleoperators are needed. Furthermore, as the pre-determined routes in transportation usually have an arrival time interval, an autonomously/remotely driven vehicle whose route has an inserted delay can still arrive in time. Furthermore, safety is provided in that an autonomously/remotely driven vehicle whose route has an inserted delay may stay a longer time in the first road segment which is to be autonomously driven rather than entering the subsequent second road segment without a teleoperator. 
     That a route is pre-determined may be construed as it is known (e.g. start and end locations, directions, and at least start time of the route) before it is driven. The pre-determined route could alternatively be referred to as a pre-planned route, or simply planned route. 
     Furthermore, a road segment may be construed as an area of the route where the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle may drive, for example a public road (section), a roundabout, an intersection, a fenced area, a highway, etc. 
     Furthermore, the road segments and driving modes of the pre-determined routes may for example be retrieved from a (previously compiled) database which includes road segments and associated driving modes for a (greater) geographical area in which the pre-determined routes run. Each pre-determined route may alternatively be divided into road segments, and a driving mode may be associated to each of those road segments. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises causing the at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles to travel along the pre-determined routes with the inserted delay or speedup in said road segment of at least one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles. This may include transmitting the pre-determined routes (along with the road segments and driving modes) and/with the delay/speedup to the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, wherein at least one of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles autonomously drives its first road segment, and wherein the teleoperator first assists and/or drives one of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in its second subsequent road segment and then the same teleoperator may assist and/or drive the other autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in its second subsequent road segment. 
     In some embodiments, the delay or speedup in said road segment of the pre-determined route of an autonomous/remotely operated vehicle of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles is realized by that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle slowing down or speeding up, respectively, in said road segment. For example, the one autonomous/remotely operated vehicle may travel at a lower speed than normal in the first road segment so that it does not reach the subsequent second road segment until the other autonomous/remotely operated vehicle has exited its subsequent second road segment. In another example, the one autonomous/remotely operated vehicle may travel at a higher (yet legal) speed than normal in the first road segment so that can exit the subsequent second road segment before the other autonomous/remotely operated vehicle reaches its subsequent second road segment. 
     In some embodiments, the delay (or speedup) in said road segment of the pre-determined route of an autonomous/remotely operated vehicle of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in realized by that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle stopping in said road segment, for example in lane or on the verge of the road. 
     In some embodiments, the delay (or speedup) in said road segment of the pre-determined route of an autonomous/remotely operated vehicle of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles is realized by that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle driving in a holding pattern at least starting in said road segment. That autonomous/remotely operated vehicle may for example autonomously drive one or more times around a block of buildings. 
     In some embodiments, the delay (or speedup) in said road segment of the pre-determined route of an autonomous/remotely operated vehicle of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles is realized by that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle re-routing from said road segment and driving along at least one adjoining road segment which is to be autonomously driven, whereby that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle can autonomously drive a longer distance/time than initially planned. 
     In some embodiments, the delay or speedup is inserted in said road segment of the pre-determined route of an autonomous/remotely operated vehicle of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles so that an arrival time interval of the pre-determined route of that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle is not exceeded or fallen short of (i.e. so that that autonomous/remotely operated vehicle does not arrive after or before the arrival time interval). As mentioned above, pre-determined routes in transportation usually have an arrival time interval, rather than an exact arrival time, e.g. 07:00-08:00 rather than say 07:35. To this end, the present inventor has realized that by inserting the delay or speedup further based on the arrival time interval, efficient utilization of one or more teleoperators can be realized as discussed above, without compromising the delivery time. The determined time overlap could for example be used as a lower limit for the delay, whereas the arrival time interval could be used to determine an upper limit for the delay. 
     In some embodiments, each of the at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicle is a road vehicle, preferably without a driver&#39;s cab and/or propelled by one or more electric motors, like Einride&#39;s aforementioned pod. 
     Each autonomous/remotely operated vehicle may have different driving modes that the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle can switch between, wherein the driving modes includes a fully autonomous driving mode, at least one driving mode that requires that a teleoperator assists the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, and a fully remote driving mode, wherein the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle has at least one computer for autonomous/remote operation of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, sensors to detect its surroundings, a memory and/or computer data storage storing the driving modes, and wireless communication means to communicate with the remote operation station. 
     The remote operation station may comprise equipment for allowing the teleoperator to remotely assist and/or drive the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, said equipment including one or more screens for showing the surroundings of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle as detected by one or more sensors of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, steering means (for example a steering wheel), throttle, and braking means, wherein the remote operation station also has communication means for wirelessly communicating with the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles. 
     At least one of the at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles may autonomously drive its road segment with the inserted delay or speedup, wherein the teleoperator first assists and/or drives one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in its road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle and then the teleoperator assists and/or drives another one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in its road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle. 
     According to a second aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided a system for controlling a fleet of at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, wherein the system is configured to: 
     assign to each of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles a pre-determined route comprising a road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, 
     determine a time overlap of said road segments of the pre-determined routes assigned to the at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, and 
     based on the determined time overlap, insert a delay or speedup in a road segment of the pre-determined route of at least one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, which road segment is to be autonomously driven and precedes the road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, so that said road segments no longer overlap in time. 
     This aspect may exhibit the same or similar features and technical effects as the first aspect, and vice-versa. For example, the system may (further) be configured to cause at least one of the at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles to autonomously drive its road segment with the inserted delay or speedup. Furthermore, the teleoperator may in operation first assist and/or drive one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in its road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle and then the teleoperator assists and/or drives another one of said at least two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles in its road segment which requires that a teleoperator of a remote operation station assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing exemplary embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  1    schematically illustrates a remote operation station and two autonomous/remotely operated vehicle driving along pre-determined routes. 
         FIG.  2    is a flow chart of a method according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIGS.  3   a - b    illustrate the pre-determined routes in the time domain, before ( 3   a ) and after ( 3   b ) insertion of a delay in one of the routes. 
         FIGS.  4   a - b    illustrate teleoperation of the routes of  FIG.  3     b.    
         FIGS.  5   a - d    schematically illustrates how a delay can be realized. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, some embodiments of the present invention will be described. However, it is to be understood that features of the different embodiments are exchangeable between the embodiments and may be combined in different ways, unless anything else is specifically indicated. Even though in the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well known constructions or functions are not described in detail, so as not to obscure the present invention. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates a fleet  10  of autonomous/remotely operated vehicles, here a first autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a  and a second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b , as well as a remote operation station  14 . It should however be stressed that the fleet  10  indeed could include more than two autonomous/remotely operated vehicles. 
     Each autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  is preferably a (wheeled) road vehicle. The autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  may have several different driving modes that the vehicle  12   a,b  can switch between. The driving modes may include a fully autonomous driving mode (no human input), at least one driving mode that requires that a human teleoperator  16  assists the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  (wherein the teleoperator  16  monitors and/or confirms otherwise autonomous driving), and a fully remote driving mode (wherein the teleoperator  16  drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  from the remote operation station  14 ). To this end, the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  may have at least one computer  18  for (autonomous/remote) operation of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b , various sensors  20  to detect its surroundings, a memory and/or computer data storage  22  storing e.g. the driving modes, and wireless communication means  24  (e.g. 5G) to communicate with the remote operation station  14 . 
     Various driving modes that require that a human teleoperator assists the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle (wherein the teleoperator monitors and/or confirms otherwise autonomous driving) are described in Applicant&#39;s co-pending patent application entitled METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN AUTONOMOUS/REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE ALONG A PRE-DETERMINED ROUTE, the contents of which herein in incorporated by reference. 
     Furthermore, the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  may be a transport vehicle, with a trailer  26  for pallets, timber, perishable goods, etc. Furthermore, the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  may be an all-electric vehicle, propelled by at least one electric motor  28  powered by a battery  30 . The autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  may also be devoid of a driver&#39;s cab, thereby it cannot be driven manually by a driver in the vehicle  12   a,b.    
     The remote operation station  14  accommodates the teleoperator  16  and typically one or more additional teleoperators. The remote operation station  14  also comprises equipment  32  for allowing the teleoperator(s)  16  to remotely assist and/or drive the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  of the fleet  10 . The equipment  32  may include one or more screens for showing the surroundings of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a,b  (as detected by one or more of the sensors  20 ), a steering wheel, throttle, braking means, etc. The remote operation station  14  may also have communication means  34  for wirelessly communicating with the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b . The remote operation station  14  may be at a single physical location or distributed over several locations. 
     Also shown in  FIG.  1    is a first pre-determined route  36   a  of autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a  and a second pre-determined route  36   b  of autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b , as will be described further below. 
     A method for controlling the fleet  10  will now be described, further with reference to  FIGS.  2  and  3   . The method may be (at least partly) computer-implemented, i.e. involve one or more computers or the like, wherein at least one feature is realised by means of a computer program (software). 
     The aforementioned pre-determined routes  36   a,b  may initially be set/decided/planned, for example by a transportation service provider, at S 0 . The pre-determined routes  36   a,b  may for example start at the same distributer&#39;s logistics centre and end at different store locations. The transportation service provider may also operate the remote operation station  14 . Furthermore, each route  36   a,b  is pre-determined in that it is known (e.g. start and end locations, directions, and at least start time of the route) some time before it is driven. 
     Each pre-determined routes  36   a,b  may comprise a first road segment  38   a,b  which is to be autonomously driven, e.g. using the aforementioned fully autonomous driving mode. Please note that although denoted “first” road segment  38   a,b , it does not have to be the very first road segment of the route  36   a,b . Each pre-determined routes  36   a,b  may further comprise a subsequent (next) second road segment  40   a,b  which is to be driven in a driving mode that requires that a teleoperator  16  of the remote operation station  14  assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle, for example using the aforementioned driving mode that requires that a human teleoperator  16  assists the vehicle or the aforementioned fully remote driving mode. That is, the first road segment  38   a,b  precedes the second road segment  40   a,b.    
     The road segments  38 , b  and  40   a,b  and associated driving modes of the pre-determined routes  36   a,b  may for example be retrieved at S 1  (e.g. by the aforementioned transportation service provider) from a database which includes road segments and associated driving modes for a geographical area in which the pre-determined routes  36   a,b  run. 
     At S 2 , the method includes assigning the first pre-determined route  36   a  to the first autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a  and assigning the second pre-determined route  36   b  to the second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b . This step could be performed by the transportation service provider. 
     At S 3 , the method determines a time overlap  42  of the second road segments  40   a,b  of the pre-determined routes  36   a,b  assigned to the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b , as illustrated in  FIG.  3   a   . It could for example be that the subsequent second road segments  40   a,b  overlap between 10:10 and 10:15 o&#39;clock. This step could be performed by the transportation service provider or the remote operation station  14 . 
     Based on the determined time overlap  42  in step S 3 , the method at S 4  inserts a delay  44  (or speedup) in the first road segment  38   b  of the pre-determined route  36   b  of one of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles—here the second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b —so that the second segments  40   a,b  no longer overlap in time, see  FIG.  3   b   . The delay  44  should be at least as long as the time overlap  42 , i.e. at least 5 minutes for the example in the previous paragraph. That is, the duration of the first road segment  38   b  is extended by 5 minutes. A corresponding exemplary speedup could be −5 minutes, i.e. the duration of the first road segment  38   b  is shortened by 5 minutes. This step could be performed by the transportation service provider or the remote operation station  14 . 
     Furthermore, the delay  44  may be inserted in the first road segment  40   b  so that an arrival time interval  46  of the pre-determined route  36   b  of the second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  is not exceeded. For an arrival time interval  46  of say 20 minutes, which arrival time interval  46  typically is centred about an estimated time of arrival  48  of the pre-determined route  36   b , it means that the delay  44  should be no longer than 10 minutes. Hence, in conjunction with the example in the previous paragraph, the exemplary delay  44  may be: 5 min&lt;delay  44 &lt;10 min. 
     If the fleet  10  also comprises a third autonomous/remotely operated vehicles whose subsequent second road segment overlaps in time with the road segments  40   a,b , a suitable delay or speedup could be inserted in its first road segment to remove the overlap, whereby also the third autonomous/remotely operated vehicle could be handled by the teleoperator  16 , and so on. 
     It should be noted that S 2  could be performed after S 3  and S 4 . 
     The method may further comprise causing (S 5 ) the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  to travel along the pre-determined routes  36   a,b  with the inserted delay  44  in the first road segment  38   b  of the second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b . This may in turn include transmitting (S 5   a ) the pre-determined routes  36   a,b  along with the road segments and driving modes to the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  (e.g. using communication means  34  and  24 ) and transmitting (S 5   b ) also the delay (or speedup) to one of the vehicles  12   a,b  (e.g. using communication means  34  and  24 )*, wherein the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  autonomously drive (S 5   c ) their first road segments  38   a,b  including the delay  44  in the first road segment  38   b , and wherein the teleoperator  16  first assists and/or drives the first autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a  in its second road segment  40   a  (S 5   d ;  FIG.  4   a   ) and then the same teleoperator  16  assists and/or drives the second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  in its second subsequent road segment  40   b  while the first autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a  for example may have be in a subsequent road segment which is autonomously driven (S 5   e ;  FIG.  4   b   ). Namely, the teleoperator  14  assists and/or drives the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  using the equipment  32 , whereby various control signals (steering, throttle, confirmations, etc.) may be sent from the remote operation station  14  to the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  using the communication means  34  and  24 . *The autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  may store the (received) pre-determined routes  36   a,b , the road segments  38   a - b  and  40   a - b , driving modes, and any delay  44  in the memory and/or computer data storage  22 . 
     It should be noted that S 5   a  and S 5   b  could be combined. Also, only the delay  44  may be transmitted (S 5   b ), in case the autonomous/remotely operated vehicles  12   a,b  have the pre-determined routes  36   a,b  beforehand. 
       FIGS.  5   a - d    illustrates how the inserted delay  44  in the first (autonomous drive) road segment  38   b  of the pre-determined route  36   b  can be realized (implemented) by the second autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b.    
     In  FIG.  5   a   , the delay  44  is realized by the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  slowing down in the first road segment  38   b , so that it travels at a lower speed than normal. 
     In  FIG.  5   b   , the delay  44  is realized by the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  stopping temporarily in the first road segment  38   b  before it reaches the subsequent second road segment  40   b.    
     In  FIG.  5   c   , the delay  44  is realized by the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  driving in a holding pattern  48 , for example driving around a block of buildings in the first road segment  38   b.    
     In  FIG.  5   d   , the delay  44  is realized by the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  re-routing from the first road segment  38   b  and driving along at least one adjoining road segment  38   b ′ which is to be autonomously driven, so that it drives longer than initially planned before reaching the next second road segment  40   b.    
     The autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   b  may be configured to determine which option ( FIGS.  5   a - d   ) to use to implement the delay  44 . Alternatively, it can be instructed how to implement the delay  44 , for example along with the transmission of the delay in the aforementioned step SSb. 
     The skilled person in the art realizes that the present invention by no means is limited to the embodiments described above. The features of the described embodiments may be combined in different ways, and many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims. 
     For example, the predetermined route  36   a  of the autonomous/remotely operated vehicle  12   a  could be devoid of the first road segment  38   a.    
     Furthermore, in addition to inserting a delay  44  in the first road segment  38   b , a speedup could also be inserted in the first road segment  38   a , such that the road segments  40   a - b  do not overlap in time. 
     Finally, the word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed in the claim. The word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.