Systems and methods for communicating intent of an autonomous vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10429846-B2
Application number	US-201715700211-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2017
Priority date	Aug 28, 2017
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods to communicate intent of an autonomous vehicle. In particular, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can receive, from an autonomy computing system of an autonomous vehicle, data indicating an intent of the autonomous vehicle to perform a driving maneuver. It can be determined that the intent of the autonomous vehicle should be communicated to a passenger of the autonomous vehicle. Responsive to determining that the intent of the autonomous vehicle should be communicated to the passenger of the autonomous vehicle, a graphical interface indicating the intent of the autonomous vehicle can be generated and provided for display for viewing by the passenger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media that collectively store instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from an autonomy computing system of an autonomous vehicle, data included in a motion plan for the autonomous vehicle determined by the autonomy computing system and indicating an intent of the autonomous vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent, a plurality of intents of the autonomous vehicle indicating that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping in response to at least a first event and a second event;
selecting, from amongst the plurality of intents and based at least in part on a predetermined hierarchy, the intent of the autonomous vehicle, wherein selecting the intent of the autonomous vehicle comprises determining a relationship between the first event and the second event in the predetermined hierarchy;
responsive to determining that the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent meets a predetermined threshold, determining that the intent of the autonomous vehicle should be communicated to a passenger of the autonomous vehicle; and
responsive to determining that the intent of the autonomous vehicle should be communicated to the passenger:
generating a graphical interface indicating the intent of the autonomous vehicle; and
providing for display, for viewing by the passenger, the graphical interface.

2. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein determining that the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent meets a predetermined threshold comprises determining that a frequency in change of the intent meets the predetermined threshold.

3. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein determining that the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent meets a predetermined threshold comprises determining that a degree of confidence of an event associated with the intent meets the predetermined threshold.

4. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein generating the graphical interface comprises generating an interface comprising:
a map depicting a current location of the autonomous vehicle; and
a graphic overlay on the map indicating the intent of the autonomous vehicle.

5. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein generating the graphical interface comprises generating an interface comprising one or more elements depicting an event associated with the intent of the autonomous vehicle.

6. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein determining the plurality of intents of the autonomous vehicle comprises determining that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping in response to at least the first event and the second event based at least in part on a signal determined from one or more of a map or environmental sensor data.

7. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein generating the graphical interface comprises generating an interface:
comprising a graphic indicating that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping; and
indicating an event for which the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping based at least in part on the relationship between the first event and the second event in the predetermined hierarchy.

8. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from an autonomy computing system of an autonomous vehicle, data included in a motion plan for the autonomous vehicle determined by the autonomy computing system and indicating an intent of the autonomous vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent, a plurality of intents of the autonomous vehicle indicating that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping in response to at least a first event and a second event;
selecting, from amongst the plurality of intents and based at least in part on a predetermined hierarchy, the intent of the autonomous vehicle, wherein selecting the intent of the autonomous vehicle comprises determining a relationship between the first event and the second event in the predetermined hierarchy;
responsive to determining that the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent meets a predetermined threshold, determining that the intent of the autonomous vehicle should be communicated to a passenger of the autonomous vehicle; and
responsive to determining that the intent of the autonomous vehicle should be communicated to the passenger:
generating a graphical interface indicating the intent of the autonomous vehicle; and
providing for display, for viewing by the passenger, the graphical interface.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining that the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent meets a predetermined threshold comprises determining that a frequency in change of the intent meets the predetermined threshold.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining that the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent meets a predetermined threshold comprises determining that a degree of confidence of an event associated with the intent meets the predetermined threshold.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein generating the graphical interface comprises generating an interface comprising:
a map depicting a current location of the autonomous vehicle; and
a graphic overlay on the map indicating the intent of the autonomous vehicle.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein generating the graphical interface comprises generating an interface comprising one or more elements depicting an event associated with the intent of the autonomous vehicle.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining the plurality of intents of the autonomous vehicle comprises determining that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping in response to at least the first event and the second event based at least in part on a signal determined from one or more of a map or environmental sensor data.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein generating the graphical interface comprises generating an interface:
comprising a graphic indicating that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping; and
indicating an event for which the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping based at least in part on the relationship between the first event and the second event in the predetermined hierarchy.

15. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by a computing system comprising one or more computing devices and from an autonomy computing system of an autonomous vehicle, data included in a motion plan for the autonomous vehicle determined by the autonomy computing system and indicating an intent of the autonomous vehicle;
determining, by the computing system and based at least in part on the data included in the motion plan and indicating the intent, a plurality of intents of the autonomous vehicle indicating that the autonomous vehicle is stopped or stopping in response to at least a first event and a second event;
selecting, by the computing system, from amongst the plurality of intents, and based at least in part on a predetermined hierarchy, the intent of the autonomous vehicle, wherein selecting the intent of the autonomous vehicle comprises determini

Assignees

• Uber Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Nix Molly Castle
• Chin Sean

Classifications

• B60W2555/60

  Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way · CPC title

• B60W2554/80

  Spatial relation or speed relative to objects · CPC title

• B60W50/14

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title

• B60W2050/146

  Display means · CPC title

• G01C21/3676

  Overview of the route on the road map · CPC title