Placement of sensors on vehicles for safety and autonomous capability is a complex optimization problem when considered in the full-blown form, with different constraints. Considering that Quantum Computers are expected to be able to solve certain optimization problems more "easily" in the future, the problem was posted as part of the BMW Quantum Computing Challenge 2021. In this paper, we have presented two formulations for quantum-enhanced solutions in a systematic manner. In the process, necessary simplifications are invoked to accommodate the current capabilities of Quantum Simulators and Hardware. The presented results and observations from elaborate simulation studies demonstrate the correct functionality and usefulness of the proposals.
Placement of sensors on vehicles for safety and autonomous capability is a complex optimization problem when considered in the full-blown form, with different constraints. Considering that Quantum Computers are expected to be able to solve certain optimization problems more "easily" in the future, the problem was posted as part of the BMW Quantum Computing Challenge 2021. In this paper, we have presented two formulations for quantum-enhanced solutions in a systematic manner. In the process, necessary simplifications are invoked to accommodate the current capabilities of Quantum Simulators and Hardware. The presented results and observations from elaborate simulation studies demonstrate the correct functionality and usefulness of the proposals.
The paper presents a quantum method to optimize the placement of sensors on the surface of a vehicle. The problem, as posted in the BMW Quantum Computing Challenge 2021, is to arrive at the optimal positions and configurations (type and orientation) of the sensors on the vehicle surface that maximizes coverage of the Region of Interest (RoI), while minimizing the total cost of the selected sensors. The dataset contains approximately 100,000 points in the RoI, with defined measures of criticality (ranging between 0 to 1), distributed over a volume of approximately 40,000 cubic metres around the vehicle. The types of sensors, their coverage parameters and costs are inputs to the problem.The optimization problem is decomposed and solved individually for each side of the vehicle, and the results for the entire vehicle are collated and presented in the paper. The approach considers a quadratic approximation to the maximum set-coverage formulation with the advantage of obtaining the optimal number of sensors as an output from the model itself. The resultant quadratic program is solved using quantum methods, as well as a standard, state-of-the-art Integer Quadratic Program (IQP) solver, respectively. The quadratic approximation consumes qubits that are linear in the number of total configurations and significantly reduces the number of decision variables required in an Ising formulation of the problem.The quantum and classical methods are found to perform on par with each other. A detailed comparison of the results is presented in the paper. Given the combinatorial nature of the optimization problem, the classical approach may become intractable while solving the problem in an integrated manner (instead of solving individually for each side). Under such scenarios, there is a possibility to expect benefits by adopting the proposed strategies with the availability of large-sized quantum computers in the near future.
To increase efficiency in automotive manufacturing, newly produced vehicles can move autonomously from the production line to the distribution area. This requires an optimal placement of sensors to ensure full coverage while minimizing the number of sensors used. The underlying optimization problem poses a computational challenge due to its large-scale nature. Currently, classical solvers rely on heuristics, often yielding nonoptimal solutions for large instances, resulting in suboptimal sensor distributions and increased operational costs. We explore quantum computing methods that may outperform classical heuristics in the future. We implemented quantum annealing with D-Wave, transforming the problem into a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization formulation with one-hot and binary encoding. Hyperparameters like the penalty terms and the annealing time are optimized and the results are compared with default parameter settings. Our results demonstrate that quantum annealing is capable of solving instances derived from real-world scenarios. Through the use of decomposition techniques, we are able to scale the problem size further, bringing it closer to practical, industrial applicability. Through this work, we provide key insights into the importance of quantum annealing parametrization, demonstrating how quantum computing could contribute to cost-efficient, large-scale optimization problems once the hardware matures.
Enormous activity in the Quantum Computing area has resulted in it being considered, together with classical computers, for solving different difficult problems - including those of applied nature. An attempt is made in this work to assemble a pipeline consisting of both quantum and classical processing blocks for the task of image classification and segmentation, keeping in mind the present limitations of the gate-model quantum computers. It is based on the work done for the recent BMW Quantum Computing Challenge related to Automotive Industry. The pipeline handles the real-life sized images as the input and output, rather than the toy-sized examples prevalent in Quantum Computing literature. Apart from breaking down the problem to modules, some of which can be accommodated in the existing simulators and hardware, simplifications of the relevant quantum algorithms are also carried out. Its functionality and utility are brought out by applying it to surface crack segmentation on the popular Kaggle Surface Crack Detection data set. The results of the paper are not only limited to simulations, but also involve running models on Noisy, Intermediate-Scale Quantum processors through AWS. In its entirety, this work may lay the groundwork for quantum/quantum-enhanced image segmentation, and providing interested researchers with a stepping-stone in that direction, as the results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method, even with simple versions of the quantum modules.
Autonomous driving systems demand real-time processing of high-dimensional sensor data, large-scale decision making, NP-hard routing optimization under strict latency and computational constraints. Classical approaches using convolutional neural networks face scalability issues and performance limitations in dynamic environments. IBM’s Qiskit framework provides a comprehensive solution with a modular architecture, enabling the construction of quantum circuits that encode multi-sensor data into exponentially large Hilbert spaces. The core components like Terra and Aer support circuit design and noise-aware simulation. Additional libraries extend these capabilities to support quantum machine learning and optimization algorithms. This paper presents a unified Qiskit-based framework incorporating quantum neural networks for trajectory prediction, quantum convolutional neural networks for safety classification in poor conditions, and quantum approximate optimization algorithm for efficient vehicle routing. We showcase how quantum superposition explores multiple routing paths in parallel and how quantum circuits represent grid locations to improve path finding. Our survey reveals measurable performance advantages of quantum-enhanced models over classical methods, forming the basis of quantum-accelerated autonomous driving systems.
Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have become indispensable components in modern computing, providing adaptable and reconfigurable hardware platforms. FPGA-based accelerators offer promising avenues for advancements in diverse fields such as real-time data processing, machine learning, and cryptography. However, optimizing the spatial arrangement of functional blocks on an FPGA, known as placement, presents a challenging task due to its NP-hard nature, necessitating sophisticated algorithms for efficient solutions. Enhancing the placement process directly translates to reduced resource utilization during implementation. Quantum computing (QC) presents a promising approach for tackling such combinatorial problems by exploring vast solution spaces. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to the placement problem, re-formulating it as a series of quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problems, which we then solve using QC. Our novel formulation allows for straightforward integration of design constraints and enables the adaptation of sub-problem sizes to match hardware capabilities. Alongside presenting our method, we also investigate the resilience of contemporary quantum hardware in finding placements for real-world-sized FPGAs. A numerical assessment conducted on a D-Wave Advantage 5.4 quantum annealer indicates that the answer is indeed positive.
There has never been a more exciting time for the future of quantum computing than now. Real-world quantum computing usage is now the next XPRIZE. With that challenge in mind we have explored a new approach as a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for solving NP-Hard optimization problems. We have focused on the classic problem of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) because of its real-world industry applications. Heuristics are often employed to solve this problem because it is difficult. In addition, meta-heuristic algorithms have proven to be capable of finding reasonable solutions to optimization problems like the CVRP. Recent research has shown that quantum-only and hybrid quantum/classical approaches to solving the CVRP are possible. Where quantum approaches are usually limited to minimal optimization problems, hybrid approaches have been able to solve more significant issues. Still, the hybrid approaches often need help finding solutions as good as their classical counterparts. In our proposed approach, we created a hybrid quantum/classical meta-heuristic algorithm capable of finding the best-known solution to a classic CVRP problem. Our experimental results show that our proposed algorithm often outperforms other hybrid approaches.