Self-driving vehicle road safety flare deploying system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10529147-B2
Application number	US-201715398927-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2017
Priority date	Jan 5, 2017
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A method deploys a road safety flare near a faulty self-driving vehicle (SDV). One or more processors detect a driving problem severity level for a faulty SDV. One or more processors assess environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV. One or more processors determine an opportune position for deploying the road safety flare based on the environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV and then deploy, according to directions from the faulty SDV, a road safety flare at the opportune position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
detecting, by one or more processors, a driving problem severity level for a faulty self-driving vehicle (SDV), wherein the driving problem severity level describes an amount of danger that is posed to other vehicles by the faulty SDV;
assessing, by one or more processors, environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV;
determining, by one or more processors, an opportune position for deploying one or more road safety flares by the faulty SDV based on the environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV and the driving problem severity level; and
transmitting, from the faulty SDV to a drone controller system, directions to deploy the one or more road safety flares at the opportune position, wherein the directions cause the drone controller system to issue instructions to an aerial drone that cause the aerial drone to deploy the one or more road safety flares at the opportune position based on the amount of danger that is posed to the other vehicles by the faulty SDV.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by one or more processors, a presence of airborne hazards above the opportune position, wherein the airborne hazards are moving objects that are capable of striking the aerial drone;
determining, by one or more processors, a safe altitude from which to deploy the one or more road safety flares from the aerial drone, wherein the safe altitude is determined based on the presence of the airborne hazards above at the opportune position; and
positioning, by one or more processors, the aerial drone at the safe altitude above the opportune position before deploying the road safety flares.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by one or more processors, a presence of hazardous gasses above the opportune position;
determining, by one or more processors, a safe altitude below the hazardous gasses from which to deploy the one or more road safety flares from the aerial drone; and
positioning, by one or more processors, the aerial drone at the safe altitude below the hazardous gasses before deploying the road safety flares.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the driving problem severity level is based on a safety concern expressed by an occupant of the faulty SDV.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more road safety flares are from a group consisting of an electronic safety flare, a pyrotechnic safety flare, and a radio signal transmitting safety flare.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more road safety flares are equipped with a communication system that electronically communicates with the faulty SDV, and wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:
receiving, by the faulty SDV, a message from the communication system on the one or more road safety flares describing a real-time state of the one or more road safety flares; and
activating, by the faulty SDV and based on the real-time state of the one or more road safety flares, the one or more road safety flares by a remote transmission from the faulty SDV to the communication system on the one or more road safety flares.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental conditions are current traffic conditions at the location of the faulty SDV.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental conditions are current weather conditions at the location of the faulty SDV.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental conditions are curvatures of the roadway at the location of the faulty SDV.

10. A computer program product for deploying one or more road safety flares at an opportune position near a faulty self-driving vehicle (SDV), the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions readable and executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
detecting a driving problem severity level for a faulty self-driving vehicle (SDV), wherein the driving problem severity level describes an amount of danger that is posed to other vehicles by the faulty SDV;
assessing environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV;
determining an opportune position for deploying the one or more road safety flares based on the environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV and the driving problem severity level; and
transmitting, from the faulty SDV to a drone controller system, directions to deploy the one or more road safety flares at the opportune position, wherein the directions cause the drone controller system to issue instructions to an aerial drone that cause the aerial drone to deploy the one or more road safety flares at the opportune position based on the amount of danger that is posed to the other vehicles by the faulty SDV.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:
detecting a presence of moving hazards above the opportune position, wherein the moving hazards are moving objects that are capable of striking the aerial drone;
determining a safe altitude from which to deploy the one or more road safety flares from the aerial drone, wherein the safe altitude is determined based on the presence of moving hazards above at the opportune position; and
positioning the aerial drone at the safe altitude above the opportune position.

12. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the one or more road safety flares are from a group consisting of an electronic safety flare, a pyrotechnic safety flare, and a radio signal transmitting safety flare.

13. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the one or more road safety flares are equipped with a communication system that electronically communicates with the faulty SDV, and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, by the faulty SDV, a message from the communication system on the one or more road safety flares describing a real-time state of the one or more road safety flares; and
adjusting, by the faulty SDV and based on the real-time state of the one or more road safety flares, a functionality of the one or more road safety flares by a remote transmission from the faulty SDV to the communication system on the one or more road safety flares.

14. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions are provided as a service in a cloud environment.

15. A computer system comprising:
one or more processors,
one or more computer readable memories communicably coupled to the one or more processors, and
program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable memories for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more computer readable memories, the stored program instructions comprising:
program instructions to detect a driving problem severity level for a faulty self-driving vehicle (SDV), wherein the driving problem severity level describes an amount of danger that is posed to other vehicles by the faulty SDV;
program instructions to assess environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV;
program instructions to determine an opportune position for deploying one or more road safety flares based on the environmental conditions at the location of the faulty SDV and the driving problem severity level; and
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Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Gordon Michael S
• Kozloski James R
• Pickover Clifford A

Classifications

• B64D1/02 Primary

  Dropping, ejecting, or releasing articles (jettisonable fuel reservoirs B64D37/12) · CPC title

• B64U2101/60

  for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• G07C5/0808

  Diagnosing performance data (testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005) · CPC title