Patent Application
20230108953
The present disclosure relates generally to autonomous vehicle operations, and more particularly to methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for deploying an autonomous vehicle to a location of an infrastructure element to provide an infrastructure service in response to a loss of power event.
Current trends in wireless technology are leading towards a future where virtually any object can be network enabled and network addressable, e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) addressable. The pervasive presence of wireless networks, including cellular, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, satellite and Bluetooth networks, and the migration to a 128-bit IPv6-based address space provides the tools and resources for the paradigm of the Internet of Things (IoT) to become a reality. In addition, drones or autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs), which were once primarily recreational or experimental items, are increasingly being utilized for a variety of commercial and other useful tasks, such as package deliveries, search and rescue, mapping, surveying, and so forth.
In one example, the present disclosure describes a method, computer-readable medium, and apparatus for deploying an autonomous vehicle to a location of an infrastructure element to provide an infrastructure service in response to a loss of power event. For instance, in one example, a processing system including at least one processor may detect a loss of power event for a managed area, where the managed area includes a plurality of infrastructure elements that rely upon electric power grid power, and where the plurality of infrastructure elements provides a plurality of infrastructure services. The processing system may then identify at least one vehicle that is capable of providing at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services, where the at least one vehicle comprises an autonomous vehicle, and transmit an instruction to the at least one vehicle to deploy to a location of at least one of the plurality of infrastructure elements to provide the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services.
The teaching of the present disclosure can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.
Examples of the present disclosure describe methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for deploying an autonomous vehicle to a location of an infrastructure element to provide an infrastructure service in response to a loss of power event. In one example, the present disclosure provides a coordinated system to assemble one or more mobile devices (e.g., autonomous vehicles) with electronic capabilities that may be used to provide services to an area or location (e.g., a managed area with defined infrastructure services) in response to power failure events. The infrastructure services to be provided may be defined and broadcast to one or more candidate vehicles that may move to one or more locations within the managed area to provide the services. In one example, candidate devices may determine whether to accept a task offering in light of other tasks that the candidate devices may also be able to perform at the same time. In one example, a vehicle may promote its own capabilities in order to be a preferred provider of an infrastructure service. In particular, the vehicle is mobile and may move either autonomously or by control of a user or other entities. When the vehicle is either in a geographic zone or can be made to be in a geographic zone, the vehicle may make its capabilities known and submit requests to obtain the responsibility for performing a task, or infrastructure service, within the managed area at a given time.
A managed area may be defined by a set of location coordinates, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. In one example, the coordinates may be in the form of latitude, longitude, and altitude values. At any given point in time, there may exist within the managed area a number of fixed devices or systems (e.g., infrastructure elements) that may have sensing and other enabling electronic capabilities such as video cameras, thermal cameras, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, sonar sensors, microphones, and environmental sensors (such as thermometers, barometers, humidity sensors, motion sensors, etc.). There may also be similarly-capable network-connected vehicles that may be transient within the managed area. These vehicles may also have other capabilities such as being configured to provide data connectivity as a temporary network node, having the ability to supply power, including lighting elements to provide area or targeted illumination and/or to operate as a traffic signal, to deliver an asset in the form of a payload, and so on. In one example, some vehicles may be transported to a location by other vehicles (e.g., a ground vehicle (autonomous or non-autonomous) may deliver multiple aerial vehicles such as uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), which in one example, may comprise autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs)). At a point in time, one or more of the candidate vehicles may exist within the managed area. At the same time, other candidate vehicles may not be present within the managed area, but may be in transit to the managed area. Also at the same time, still other candidate vehicles may be nearby the managed area, but may not be traveling on a route that would enter the managed area.
The candidate vehicles may continually update their statuses, which may be maintained by a fleet management system in a vehicle status database. Within the database, each vehicle may have a record, which may contain entries such as: vehicle identifier (ID), current location, planned route, vehicle capabilities, references, mobility range, and so forth. The capabilities data may include what types of infrastructure services that a vehicle can provide, along with data describing the level of service that the vehicle can provide. Each vehicle may register one or more capabilities.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the fleet management system may detect a power failure event for the managed area (e.g., all or a portion of the managed area). For instance, the fleet management system may maintain ground network-based communication with various infrastructure elements in the managed area (e.g., street lights, traffic lights, etc.) and may periodically transmit packets/messages (e.g., ping, keep-alive, etc.) to determine statuses and to maintain the connectivity or the ability to establish a connection. In the event that one or more of the infrastructure elements become unreachable or non-responsive, the fleet management system may determine that a power failure event has occurred. Alternatively, or in addition, the fleet management system may maintain a dedicated sensor device in the managed area to provide power status indications over the ground network or via wireless link(s). For instance, the sensor device may include a backup power source to enable wireless transmission of power status message(s) in the event of power loss from an electric power distribution system (e.g., the electric power grid). In still another example, the fleet management system may subscribe to and receive power outage messages from an operator of an electric power distribution system. In one example, the fleet management system may comprise one or more servers that are not located in the managed area, or may be deployed on public and/or private cloud computing infrastructure with geographic redundancies. The fleet management system may maintain an infrastructure database containing infrastructure element IDs, element types and/or the functions/infrastructure services of the infrastructure elements, locations of infrastructure elements (which may include altitude), status information of the infrastructure elements, and/or other data pertaining to the infrastructure elements, such as backup power capability, and so on.
In one example, in response to a loss of power event, the fleet management system may generate one or more tasks comprising one or more infrastructure services to be provided at a specified location for a specified period of time. The fleet management system may also scan the vehicle status database to determine one or more candidate vehicles that may potentially provide the task(s)/infrastructure service(s). In one example, the managed area may represent an area of a city or a town. The managed area may normally be served by security cameras, street lights, traffic lights, and network access points and/or edge nodes, among other powered utilities. In the event of a power failure, these capabilities may be provided temporarily by one or more capable vehicles. For instance, in response to a power failure/loss of power event, the fleet management system may identify affected infrastructure elements, and may identify and assign vehicles to fulfill the corresponding task(s)/infrastructure service(s). For example, the fleet management system may determine that one or more locations within the managed area have network wireless access points with loss of power and hence loss of wireless network connectivity, and similarly with respect to security cameras, traffic camera, traffic signals (e.g., traffic lights), and so forth. To illustrate, one task may be to provide a best resolution continuous video and audio feed from a location within the managed area for an estimated 2 hours, beginning as soon as possible. In one example, three elements of the task are established: (1) capability, (2) location, and (3) time.
Given the parameters of the task, the fleet management system may query the vehicle status database to identify which vehicles may satisfy the parameters. In this case, the timing may be “as soon as possible,” and only vehicles within the managed area, or currently within a certain range of the manage area, may be considered. For instance, if a UAV is determined to be within a threshold distance from the managed area and with no intended route, it may be a candidate for the task. If a ground-based autonomous vehicle (AV) is on a route that will go near the managed area, the AV may also be a candidate, and so on. Upon determining the list of candidate vehicles for the task, the fleet management system may broadcast an offer for the task to the candidate vehicles. Alternatively, the fleet management system may send the offer to all vehicles within an area which may be larger than the managed area so as to include nearby locations. In one example, the fleet management system may send, along with the offer of the task, an incentive to each vehicle for performing the task. The incentive may be an exchange of electronic value, such as an electronic payment that would be credited to an account associated with the vehicle in the vehicle status database or via an external exchange system. The incentive may vary based on the capabilities and level of service as registered by each vehicle in the vehicle status database. For instance, the fleet management system may send a more favorable incentive to a particular UAV than to other vehicles if that particular UAV has a higher resolution camera with greater range. However, the incentive sent with the offer to UAV 1 may be the same as that to UAV 2, if they have comparable capabilities.
Upon receiving an offer to perform a task along with an incentive, a vehicle (e.g., a ground-based AV or autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV)) may make a decision as to whether to promote itself to accept the task. This self-promotion may be necessary since the offer may have been made by the fleet management system to more vehicles than will end up being assigned the task. The vehicle may determine whether to promote itself for the tasks based on a number of factors, including whether the vehicle is currently committed to another task, whether the vehicle has more than one offer that would create a conflict, such as overlapping time periods, or based on how far the task location is from a home location of the vehicle. For instance, two task offers sent to a UAV may both also include data indicating the originators of the tasks; that is, who the UAV would be “working for.” The UAV may have a preferred client based on contractual or other factors, and may use that as a factor in determining whether to promote itself for the task assignment (e.g., a preference to provide infrastructure services to a city government instead of a private gated community). Upon determining to promote itself for a task assignment, the vehicle may send back to the fleet management system a response, including data describing the vehicle's ability to perform (or exceed) the requirements of the task. For instance, although the vehicle's capability data may be contained in the vehicle status database, the data may be incomplete, outdated, or the like. Thus, the vehicle may confirm its ability to perform the task. The vehicle may also indicate an acceptance of the incentive (or include a counter-offer, e.g., offering to accept a lower incentive to win the bid, or requesting a higher incentive in order to accept the assignment). The vehicle may also include data representing references that confirm the vehicle to be a trusted provider (e.g., other autonomous vehicles that may have worked with the vehicle in the past and can confirm task performance).
Upon receiving one or more promotions for the task, the fleet management system may assign one or more vehicles to perform the task. Each vehicle's abilities to perform the task may vary, but they may collectively contribute to performing the overall task. For instance, vehicle 1 may only be available in the location for an estimated 30 minutes, which may promote itself to provide 30 minutes of coverage along a predicted route within the managed area, for less than the incentive offered. Alternatively, or in addition, the task may involve assignment of one AV to provide electrical power services, and one or more other AVs to operate as street/path lights, traffic signal(s) and so forth. For instance, smaller AAVs may be dispatched to operate as path lights and may be configured or loaded with code, instructions, and so forth to periodically recharge from a larger ground-based AV that may have a much larger battery. In another example, a user associated with a vehicle (e.g., an operator of a non-autonomous vehicle, or an owner, operator, or manager of an AV) may be prompted to alter a planned route for the AV to either go to task location within the managed area, or to spend more time in the managed area than planned. In this case, the vehicle may prompt the user to determine whether the vehicle should promote itself for a task assignment. The prompt may be presented in a user-friendly format, such as an audible or visual prompt via a smartphone or other mobile computing devices associated with the user. The user may reply, for instance, via a voice command, a touch input via a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen or the like, and so forth.
In another type of user interaction, a user may be associated with a device that serves as a vehicle's “contact person” in the vehicle status database. In this case, the user may view any task offers and incentives and decide whether to make a promotion for the vehicle to perform the task. Upon the receipt of all vehicle promotions, the fleet management system may decide on task assignment(s) based on factors such as which vehicles can offer better levels of service, are available for a longer period of time, are deemed to be more reliable, or can arrive more quickly. The fleet management system may send task assignments to each selected vehicle, specifying where to go, how long to be there, and what infrastructure service(s) to provide. In one example, when a decision is made among competing bids, the fleet management system may assign the task by marking the task as “assigned” and noting the AV(s) assigned the task, any value/incentive agreed upon, etc., and may notify the AVs accordingly. In addition, the AV(s) assigned to the task may be marked as “on task” in the vehicle status database. For instance, other new tasks that may be in conflict with the current assigned task may not be presented to AVs that are “on task” at a same or overlapping time.
In one example, members (e.g., AVs or non-autonomous AVs) of the fleet may be all known and trusted by the fleet management system and stored in the vehicle status database. In one example, AVs of the fleet may be owned and/or operated by a same entity or organization as the fleet management system. For instance, a fleet management system may be owned and/or operated by a city, which may also own and/or operate AVs within the fleet. In one example, the infrastructure database may include for each infrastructure element, one or more AVs that are assigned or that are assignable to the infrastructure element. For instance, there may be one or more road intersections that are determined to be of sufficient importance such that traffic signal services should be restored as soon as possible after a power loss event. In such case, one or more AVs may have a pre-established relationship or assignment to provide a traffic signal service to replace a traffic signal at the given road intersection. In one example, the vehicle status database may also include data describing a vehicle's assignment to one or more particular infrastructure elements in the managed area. Other AVs may similarly be pre-assigned to provide street/path lighting in replacement of specific street/path lights, and so on. In another example, the AVs may have other primary tasks, such as a ground-based AV that is tasked with litter cleanup, but which may be reassigned to more critical infrastructure services. For instance, the AV tasked with litter cleanup may have capabilities to operate as a traffic signal and may be reassigned to a location for such purpose. For example, the AV may have traffic signal lights that may be activated and that may be programmed, or that are programmable to operate according to the same or similar pattern as a traffic signal for which the AV is being substituted. Thus, the AV may position itself within the intersection and activate its traffic signal lights accordingly. After the power is restored or after the AV is replaced by another AV as a temporary traffic signal, the AV may return to its primary task of litter cleanup, for example.
Alternatively, or in addition, AVs may be independently owned and operated, but may be registered by the fleet management system, entered into the vehicle status database, and may then be eligible to potentially obtain task assignments from the fleet management system. For instance, in one example, an unknown AV may attempt to register in the vehicle status database in an ad hoc manner. For example, the unknown AV may be able to perform a task while it is within or near the managed area. The fleet management system may broadcast its willingness to accept unknown AVs on an ad hoc basis, e.g., via its registration process. In doing so, the fleet management system may include minimum requirements that must be met for an AV to attempt to register. An unknown AV may send a registration attempt to the fleet management system and it may be accepted or not accepted based on an analysis of the capabilities that the unknown AV asserts and any vetting performed by the fleet management system (e.g., reference checks with other fleet management systems of other entities, security verifications such as any required security software being deployed or verification of up-to-date software updates, and the like). In one example, an AV may independently engage assistance from another AV to acquire the necessary skills, resources and/or capabilities to perform or to compete for a task.
Thus, the present examples describe a fleet management system that is able to detect power failure events, identify infrastructure elements for which infrastructure services are to be replaced, identify available AVs, assign tasks/infrastructure services to such AVs, and so on. It should be noted that for illustrative purposes the present disclosure is described primarily in connection with examples of autonomous aerial vehicles (AAV). However, each of the described examples may be equally applicable to other types of AVs, such as autonomous submersibles, autonomous land surface travelling vehicles, autonomous water surface travelling vehicles (e.g., boats, hydrofoils, hovercraft, etc.). These and other aspects of the present disclosure are discussed in greater detail below in connection with the examples of
To aid in understanding the present disclosure,
In one example, the server(s) 125 may each comprise a computing device or processing system, such as computing system 400 depicted in
In one example, server(s) 125 may comprise, or be coupled to or in communication with a vehicle status database 127 and an infrastructure database 128. For instance, the server(s) 112, or server(s) 125 in conjunction with vehicle status database 127 and an infrastructure database 128 may comprise a fleet management system in accordance with the present disclosure. In one example, vehicle status database 127 and infrastructure database 128 may represent a distributed file system, e.g., a Hadoop® Distributed File System (HDFS™), or the like. Server(s) 125 may receive and store information regarding AVs in vehicle status database 127, such as, for each AV: an identifier of the AV, a maximum operational range of the AV, a current operational range of the AV, capabilities or features of the AV, such as maneuvering capabilities, payload/lift capabilities (e.g., including maximum weight, volume, etc.), sensor and recording capabilities, lighting capabilities (e.g., traffic signal lighting and/or area lighting), visual projection capabilities, sound broadcast capabilities, and so forth, availability status of the AV (e.g., whether it is idle, whether it has sufficient charge, fuel, or other power capacities, whether it can be re-tasked to provide infrastructure services as described herein, whether it is within the managed area 190 or is within a certain distance or time-of-travel from the managed area 190, etc.). In one example, an AV may register itself with server(s) 125 over a network when an AV becomes active and is within communication range of network access point(s) covering the managed area 190 (e.g., base stations 117 and/or 118), or may be accomplished by an AV owner or operator at another time. Server(s) 125 may include AVs in the fleet on a permanent, temporary, or provisional basis. The vehicle status database 127 may also store information regarding assignments of AVs in the fleet to various tasks/infrastructure services, reputation/trust level information regarding various AVs, and so on.
Server(s) 125 may store in the infrastructure database 128, infrastructure element IDs, element types and/or the functions/infrastructure services of the infrastructure elements, locations of infrastructure elements (which may include altitude), status information of the infrastructure elements, and/or other data pertaining to the infrastructure elements, such as backup power capabilities, and so forth. For instance, infrastructure elements of managed area 190, may include traffic signal 180, as well as street/path lights 185 and 186. Various other infrastructure elements, each providing one or more corresponding infrastructure services, may include traffic cameras, information boards, such as an electronic information board that provides a bus schedule, estimated arrival time of a next bus (e.g., including on-time information), and so on.
In one example, the system 100 includes a telecommunication network 110. In one example, telecommunication network 110 may comprise a core network, a backbone network or transport network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP)/multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network, where label switched routes (LSRs) can be assigned for routing Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP packets, User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/IP packets, and other types of protocol data units (PDUs), and so forth. It should be noted that an IP network is broadly defined as a network that uses Internet Protocol to exchange data packets. However, it will be appreciated that the present disclosure is equally applicable to other types of data units and transport protocols, such as Frame Relay, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). In one example, the telecommunication network 110 uses a network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI), e.g., host devices or servers that are available as host devices to host virtual machines comprising virtual network functions (VNFs). In other words, at least a portion of the telecommunication network 110 may incorporate software-defined network (SDN) components.
As shown in
In one example, one or more wireless access networks 115 may each comprise a radio access network implementing such technologies as: global system for mobile communication (GSM), e.g., a base station subsystem (BSS), or IS-95, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network employing wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), or a CDMA3000 network, among others. In other words, wireless access network(s) 115 may each comprise an access network in accordance with any “second generation” (2G), “third generation” (3G), “fourth generation” (4G), Long Term Evolution (LTE), “fifth generation” (5G), or any other existing or yet to be developed future wireless/cellular network technology. While the present disclosure is not limited to any particular type of wireless access network, in the illustrative example, base stations 117 and 118 may each comprise a Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB), or gNodeB (gNB), or any combination thereof providing a multi-generational/multi-technology-capable base station. In the present example, user device 141, AAVs 160-162, and AVs 171-172 may be in communication with base stations 117 and 118, which provide connectivity between AAVs 160-162, AVs 171-172, user device 141, and other endpoint devices within the system 100, various network-based devices, such as server(s) 112, server(s) 125, and so forth. In one example, wireless access network(s) 115 may be operated by the same service provider that is operating telecommunication network 110, or one or more other service providers.
As illustrated in
In accordance with the present disclosure, AAV 160 may include a camera 163 and one or more radio frequency (RF) transceivers 166 for cellular communications and/or for non-cellular wireless communications. In one example, AAV 160 may also include one or more module(s) 164 with one or more additional controllable components, such as a microphone, a loudspeaker, an infrared, ultraviolet, or visible spectrum light source, a projector, a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) unit, a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermometer), a traffic signal unit, and so forth. It should be noted that AAVs 161 and 162 may be similarly equipped. However, for ease of illustration, specific labels for such components of AAV 161 and AAV 162 are omitted from
In addition, each of the AAVs 160-162 and AVs 171-172 may include on-board processing systems to perform steps, functions, and/or operations in connection with examples of the present disclosure for deploying an autonomous vehicle to a location of an infrastructure element to provide an infrastructure service in response to a loss of power event, and for controlling various components of the respective AVs. For instance, AAVs 160-162, and/or AVs 171-172 may each comprise all or a portion of a computing device or processing system, such as computing system 400 as described in connection with
In an illustrative example, server(s) 125 may detect a loss of power event (e.g., a loss of electric power from an electrical distribution network/system (e.g., the power grid)) in the managed area 190. The managed area 190 may comprise, for example, all or a portion of a town/city, a community (e.g., a housing development or neighborhood), or the like. In one example, the managed area 190 may include a number of infrastructure elements that may be managed by a responsible entity (such as a department of public safety, public works, etc.), a community property manager, and so forth. In accordance with the present disclosure, infrastructure elements include infrastructure elements that rely upon electric power from an electric power system (e.g., the electric grid) for operation, such as camera, traffic signals, street/path lights, public information screens, and so forth. In one example, at least some of the infrastructure elements may also be network-connected. For instance, as illustrated in
Server(s) 125 may detect the loss of power event in various ways. For example, server(s) 125 may maintain communication with various infrastructure elements in the managed area 190 (e.g. via Internet 130 and/or other networks such as telecommunication network 110, etc.). In the event that one or more of the infrastructure elements become unreachable or non-responsive, server(s) 125 may determine that a power failure event has occurred. Alternatively, or in addition, server(s) 125 may maintain a dedicated sensor device (not shown) in the managed area 190 to provide power status indications, e.g., via Internet 130 and/or via wireless access network(s) 115, telecommunication network 110, etc. For instance, the sensor device may include a backup power source to enable wireless transmission of power status message(s) in the event of power loss from the electric grid. In still another example, server(s) 125 may subscribe to and receive power outage messages from an operator of an electric power distribution system for the managed area 190.
In response to the detection of the power failure event in the managed area 190, server(s) 125 may identify infrastructure elements in the managed area 190 that may have infrastructure services to be replaced by available vehicles (e.g., AVs). In one example, if the server(s) 125 have localized power outage information, then the location(s) of infrastructure services to be replaced may be less than all of the managed area 190. If the power outage is widespread, or more information on precise location(s) is not available, then server(s) 125 may consider the entire managed area 190 for potential temporary infrastructure service replacement. In such case, vehicles may be identified for service and dispatched to one or more locations. However, if upon arrival at a location the vehicle may determine that the fixed or normally assigned infrastructure elements appear to have electrical power, the vehicle may notify the server(s) 125, whereupon the vehicle may be released from the assigned task, and in one example may be reassigned to provide an infrastructure service at a different location in the managed area 190 (and similarly for any other vehicles that may have been assigned to the location). In this regard, one or more vehicles may include image/video processing capabilities to identify if an area is with or without electric power.
For instance, a machine learning model (MLM) based classifier may be trained on images and/or video to distinguish between whether an image and/or video is indicative of an area with or without power. For example, the identification of areas with/without power be performed in accordance with a machine learning algorithms (MLA), e.g., a trained (MLM) comprising a classifier. For instance, the MLA (or the trained MLM) may comprise a deep learning neural network, or deep neural network (DNN), a generative adversarial network (GAN), a support vector machine (SVM), e.g., a binary, non-binary, or multi-class classifier, a linear or non-linear classifier, and so forth. In one example, the MLA may incorporate an exponential smoothing algorithm (such as double exponential smoothing, triple exponential smoothing, e.g., Holt-Winters smoothing, and so forth), reinforcement learning (e.g., using positive and negative examples after deployment as a MLM), and so forth. It should be noted that various other types of MLAs and/or MLMs may be implemented in examples of the present disclosure, such as a kernel-based SVM, a distance-based classifier, e.g., a Euclidean distance-based classifier, and so on.
The MLA may utilize visual features from a camera, a LiDAR unit, or the like (such as camera 163 and/or module 164 of AAV 160) for detection and recognition of loss of power areas (and conversely areas with electrical power). In other words, the features upon which an MLA/classifier may be trained may include low-level invariant image data, such as colors (e.g., RGB (red-green-blue) or CYM (cyan-yellow-magenta) raw data (luminance values) from a CCD/photo-sensor array), shapes, color moments, color histograms, edge distribution histograms, etc. Visual features may also relate to movement in a video and may include changes within images and between images in a sequence (e.g., video frames or a sequence of still image shots), such as color histogram differences or a change in color distribution, edge change ratios, standard deviation of pixel intensities, contrast, average brightness, and the like.
In the example of
In the example illustrated in
As shown in
Server(s) 125 may assign AAV 160 to provide a traffic signal service at intersection 195 for a defined period of time, which in one example may be based upon information in the infrastructure database 128 and/or information obtained from AAV 160 indicating the operational capacity of AAV 160 (e.g., how long AAV 160 is able to operate before needing a recharge, refuel, etc.). In one example, server(s) 125 may determine that a loss of power event has ended (e.g., electric power is restored to the grid in the managed area 190 or the relevant portion thereof). For instance, the restoration of power may be detected when messages are received from infrastructure elements indicating that such infrastructure elements are back online, may be detected via a dedicated sensor in the managed area 190, may be detected from a message from an operator of the electric power distribution system, and so forth. In response to detecting the restoration of electric power, server(s) 125 may transmit an instruction to AAV 160 (e.g., via wireless access network(s) 115) to cease providing the traffic signal service (and similarly for any other AVs that may have been assigned to provide infrastructure services in the managed area 190). In one example, AAV 160 or an owner or operator thereof may obtain a value item in exchange for providing the infrastructure service (such as monetary compensation to an electronic bank account, or similar credit). In one example, server(s) 125 may record information to the vehicle status database 127 and/or the infrastructure database 128 indicating a successful deployment of AAV 160 to provide the traffic signal service. For instance, a level of trust or service level of the AAV 160 may be increased such that AAV 160 may be more likely to be selected to provide a traffic signal service or other infrastructure services in the future, may receive additional consideration as an incentive to provide an infrastructure service in the future, and so forth. In other words, server(s) 125 may favor more trusted AVs that may have performed well in the past.
It should be noted that
It should also be noted that the system 100 has been simplified. In other words, the system 100 may be implemented in a different form than that illustrated in
As just one example, one or more operations described above with respect to server(s) 125 may alternatively or additionally be performed by server(s) 112, and vice versa. In addition, although server(s) 112 and 125 are illustrated in the example of
In scenario 210, AAV 260 may be assigned to provide a traffic signal service to the intersection 295, similar to the example of
In one example, AAVs 260-262 may be instructed to collaborate. For instance, AAVs 260-262 may communicate via Wi-Fi Direct broadcast, LTE Direct, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), e.g., in the 5.9 MHz band, or the like, a 5G device-to-device (D2D) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) sidelink, such as over a P5 interface, and so forth). In one example, AAV 261 may be instructed to replace AAV 260 to provide a traffic signal service when AAV 260 is low on battery charge, for example. Thus, for instance, AAV 260 may communicate to AAV 261 that AAV 260 may need to be relieved in order for AAV 260 to travel to a location where it can be recharged (which may be outside of the managed area affected by the loss of power event). Similarly, AAV 262 may be instructed to replace AAV 261 when a battery of AAV 261 is running low. In one example, these instructions may be provided to the AAVs 260-262 at the time(s) of initial dispatch or may be transmitted (e.g., by a fleet management system) in response to ongoing notifications of AV statuses from deployed AVs.
Scenario 220 illustrates an additional example in which a managed area including intersection 295 suffers a loss of power event, and in which AV 271 may be dispatched to the intersection 295 to provide a temporary traffic signal service to replace traffic signal 280. In this example, AV 271 may be specifically equipped to operate as a traffic signal (e.g., traffic signal unit 275). For instance, AV 271 may typically operate as an autonomous trash collector for a city, but may include the traffic signal unit 275 to enable AV 271 to be re-purposed in response to loss of power events. In the present example, AV 271 may be identified, selected, and dispatched (e.g., by a fleet management system, such as server(s) 125 of
As further illustrated in the scenario 220, AV 272 may also be identified, selected, and dispatched (e.g., by a fleet management system, such as server(s) 125 of
It should be noted that
At optional step 310, the processing system may register at least one vehicle to a vehicle status database, where an entry for the at least one vehicle in the vehicle status database includes information identifying a capability of providing at least one of a plurality of infrastructure services. In one example, the vehicle status database may include entries for an entire fleet of vehicles (e.g., including AVs and non-autonomous vehicles). For instance, an example vehicle status database 127 is illustrated in
At step 320, the processing system detects a loss of power event for a managed area, where the managed area includes a plurality of infrastructure elements that rely upon electric power grid power, and where the plurality of infrastructure elements provides a plurality of infrastructure services. In one example, step 320 may comprise identifying affected infrastructure elements and/or infrastructure services of the infrastructure elements that may need to be temporarily replaced or replicated. The plurality of infrastructure services may comprise, for example, a safety lighting service (e.g., street lights, or path lights, which may include lights along walking paths, alleys, parking lots, etc.). In one example, the plurality of infrastructure services may comprise a traffic signal service (e.g., to replace one or more traffic signals/traffic lights at an intersection or other road feature (e.g., a pedestrian light in the middle of a street block, etc.)). In one example, the plurality of infrastructure services may include a communication network connectivity service. In one example, the plurality of infrastructure services may include an electric power provisioning service. For instance, the electric power system/grid may also be considered as an infrastructure element for which a replacement electric power provisioning service may be deployed.
At step 330, the processing system identifies at least one vehicle that is capable of providing at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services, where the at least one vehicle comprises an autonomous vehicle (AV). In one example, the autonomous vehicle (AV) may comprise an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV). In another example, the AV may comprise an autonomous surface-operating vehicle (e.g., ground and/or water-based, and alternatively or additionally may comprise a submersible vehicle). In one example, the at least one vehicle may comprise a plurality of vehicles, e.g., including two or more AV. In addition, in one example, the plurality of vehicles may further comprise at least one non-autonomous vehicle. In one example, step 330 may include determining at least one of a current location or an anticipated location of the at least one vehicle. In one example, step 330 may further include determining an availability of the at least one vehicle. In one example, the availability may include a duration of time for which the at least one vehicle is capable of providing the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services. In one example, step 330 may include identifying at least two vehicles capable of performing at least two of the plurality of infrastructure services, where the at least one vehicle is identified to provide the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services and where at least a second vehicle is identified to provide at least a second of the plurality of infrastructure services.
At step 340, the processing system transmits an instruction to the at least one vehicle to deploy to a location of at least one of the plurality of infrastructure elements to provide the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services. For instance, the location of the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure elements may comprise a road intersection, an alleyway, a roadway, a walking path, a park, etc. To illustrate, as noted above, the plurality of infrastructure services may comprise a traffic signal service. Thus, for instance, in one example, step 340 may include deploying an AAV to function as a traffic light at an intersection. In another example, a surface-operating AV may be deployed, e.g., where a traffic signal unit may be mounted on top of a roof of the AV to enable the AV to provide a traffic signal service. In one example, the instruction is to deploy to the location for a duration of time that may be determined at step 330.
In one example, step 340 may include transmitting an instruction to the at least the second vehicle to deploy to the location to provide the at least the second of the plurality of infrastructure services (e.g., in an example in which step 330 includes the identification of the at least the second vehicle to deploy to the location to provide the at least the second of the plurality of infrastructure services). For instance, the processing system may deploy multiple AVs to a same intersection to provide different services (e.g., a first AV can provide street lighting nearby, while another can operate as a traffic light). In one example, the instruction to the at least one vehicle may further include an instruction to interact with the at least the second vehicle for at least one task, and the instruction to the at least the second vehicle may further include an instruction to interact with the at least one vehicle for the at least one task. For instance, one of the AVs may be instructed to provide a traffic signal service while another may sense traffic and give information on light timing to the first. As noted above, the plurality of infrastructure services may include an electric power provisioning service. For instance, the at least one task may comprise a recharging task or a refueling task. In another example, two AVs may coordinate to provide an infrastructure service. For example, two or more AVs may coordinate with each other to provide one set of traffic lights for each direction of approach to a four-way intersection (e.g., where the sets of lights are coordinated/time-synchronized with each other at the intersection). It should be noted that in each example, the coordination and/or collaboration may be in accordance with instructions from the processing system to the respective AVs.
At optional step 350, the processing system may identify at least a second vehicle that is capable of providing the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services (e.g., for a subsequent time period). For instance optional step 350 may be the same or similar to step 330, but may be for a later time and may consider AVs (or non-autonomous vehicles) besides the AV identified at step 330.
At optional step 360, the processing system may transmit an instruction to the at least the second vehicle to deploy to the location to provide the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services for a time following the duration of time for which the at least one vehicle is capable of providing the at least one of the plurality of infrastructure services. For example, as noted above, two or more AVs may take turns providing a traffic signal service (e.g., allowing time for each other to recharge/refuel while enabling a continuous provisioning of the traffic signal service), and similarly for other infrastructure services.
Following step 340 or optional step 360, the method 300 may proceed to step 395. At step 395, the method 300 ends.
It should be noted that the method 300 may be expanded to include additional steps, or may be modified to replace steps with different steps, to combine steps, to omit steps, to perform steps in a different order, and so forth. For instance, in one example the processing system may repeat one or more steps of the method 300, such as steps 310-340 or steps 310-360 for additional locations in the managed areas, for different managed areas, for the same location and/or managed area for another loss of power event, and so forth. In one example, step 330 may include transmitting one or more offers, including incentives to provide services, obtaining one or more responses, collecting bids from multiple vehicles, and deciding between offers based on trust ratings, competing bids (e.g., costs) for different vehicles, which vehicle is closest, which can provide an infrastructure service for the longest duration of time, or other factors. In one example, optional steps 350 and 360 may be contemporaneous with steps 330 and 340, respectively. In various other examples, the method 300 may further include or may be modified to comprise aspects of any of the above-described examples in connection with
In addition, although not expressly specified above, one or more steps of the method 300 may include a storing, displaying and/or outputting step as required for a particular application. In other words, any data, records, fields, and/or intermediate results discussed in the method can be stored, displayed and/or outputted to another device as required for a particular application. Furthermore, operations, steps, or blocks in
Although only one hardware processor element 402 is shown, the computing system 400 may employ a plurality of hardware processor elements. Furthermore, although only one computing device is shown in
It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented in software and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., using application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logic array (PLA), including a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a state machine deployed on a hardware device, a computing device, or any other hardware equivalents, e.g., computer-readable instructions pertaining to the method(s) discussed above can be used to configure one or more hardware processor elements to perform the steps, functions and/or operations of the above disclosed method(s). In one example, instructions and data for the present module 405 for deploying an autonomous vehicle to a location of an infrastructure element to provide an infrastructure service in response to a loss of power event (e.g., a software program comprising computer-executable instructions) can be loaded into memory 404 and executed by hardware processor element 402 to implement the steps, functions or operations as discussed above in connection with the example method(s). Furthermore, when a hardware processor element executes instructions to perform operations, this could include the hardware processor element performing the operations directly and/or facilitating, directing, or cooperating with one or more additional hardware devices or components (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform the operations.
The processor (e.g., hardware processor element 402) executing the computer-readable instructions relating to the above described method(s) can be perceived as a programmed processor or a specialized processor. As such, the present module 405 for deploying an autonomous vehicle to a location of an infrastructure element to provide an infrastructure service in response to a loss of power event (including associated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on a tangible or physical (broadly non-transitory) computer-readable storage device or medium, e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROM memory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive, device or diskette and the like. Furthermore, a “tangible” computer-readable storage device or medium may comprise a physical device, a hardware device, or a device that is discernible by the touch. More specifically, the computer-readable storage device or medium may comprise any physical devices that provide the ability to store information such as instructions and/or data to be accessed by a processor or a computing device such as a computer or an application server.
While various examples have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred example should not be limited by any of the above-described examples, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
