Ego Vehicle

There may be numerous other vehicles on the road, but we need to single out our driver’s perspective. Our driver could be fully automated, semi-automated, or even a human. In all cases, the driving environment is defined relative to this point of view.

That’s why we use the term Ego Vehicle rather than AV or ‘automated vehicle’ since the degree of automation is not our concern.

Identifiers

1. ID

It may seem odd to place an identifier on our one and only Ego Vehicle, but it ensures consistency within our relational modeling formalism. In other words, a set definition populated with a single element is algebraically no different than a set with zero or multiple instances. (Any generated code, on the other hand may make such a performance enhancing distinction if appropriate)

Attributes

ID

Nominal (always 1)

Speed

The current measured speed.

We assume that measured or otherwise detected or computed values are maintained by some service domain. We’ll only use them when validating some environmental constraint such as whether or not the speed is above the current legal limit or if the mass is inconsistent with a permitted load on a bridge, etc.

Type: Speed (kph)

Heading

The current measured heading of the Ego Vehicle's forward (windshield) perspective.

Type: Heading (compass degrees)

Mass

The current assumed or measured mass. This definition will probably be updated and clarified later when we start modeling behavior involving it.

Type: Mass (Kg)