Fallback requests for autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10475345-B2
Application number	US-201615153117-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2016
Priority date	May 26, 2015
Publication date	Nov 12, 2019
Grant date	Nov 12, 2019

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a system having a memory, a plurality of self-driving systems for controlling a vehicle, and one or more processors. The processors are configured to receive at least one fallback task in association with a request for a primary task and at least one trigger of each fallback task. Each trigger is a set of conditions that, when satisfied, indicate when a vehicle requires attention for proper operation. The processors are also configured to send instructions to the self-driving systems to execute the primary task and receive status updates from the self-driving systems. The processors are configured to determine that a set of conditions of a trigger is satisfied based on the status updates and send further instructions based on the associated fallback task to the self-driving systems.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising one or more processors configured to:
store, in a memory, one or more fallback tasks including instructions to drive to one or more fallback locations for a type of service for a vehicle and a corresponding trigger for each of the one or more fallback tasks, each corresponding trigger being a set of conditions that, when satisfied, indicate that the type of service is required for the vehicle;
receive status updates from one or more self-driving systems that control the vehicle;
determine that a given set of conditions is satisfied based at least in part on the status updates, wherein the given set of conditions includes whether a connection exists between the one or more processors and a remote server;
determine the type of service for the vehicle is required based on a given corresponding trigger that includes the given set of conditions;
automatically determining a fallback location of the one or more fallback locations according to the type of service required for the vehicle and one or more characteristics of the fallback location;
in response to determining that the given set of conditions is satisfied, cause a given self-driving system of the one or more self-driving systems to control the vehicle to drive to the fallback location;
automatically determining a level of urgency of the given corresponding trigger, the level of urgency being related to how quickly the given corresponding fallback task associated with the given corresponding trigger is executed after the given set of conditions of the given corresponding trigger is satisfied; and
cause the given self-driving system to control the vehicle according to the given corresponding fallback task before a current task is completed when the level of urgency of the given corresponding trigger is a certain level.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine a second set of conditions is satisfied based at least in part on the status updates, wherein the second set of conditions includes a predetermined fuel or energy level, a lack of tasks for execution, or a scheduled maintenance of the vehicle; and
in response to determining that the second set of conditions is satisfied, cause the given self-driving system to control the vehicle in order to drive to a second fallback location corresponding to the second set of conditions from the one or more fallback locations.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein
a base location is hardcoded on the memory;
the one or more processors are further configured to determine that the given corresponding fallback task associated with the given corresponding trigger is non-executable; and
update the given corresponding fallback task to be driving to the base location.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
send a status update report based on the status update from the one or more self-driving systems;
receive at least one updated fallback task; and
store the at least one updated fallback task in the memory.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to update at least one of the one or more fallback tasks in the memory based on the at least one updated fallback task.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine that the given set of conditions of the given corresponding trigger are no longer satisfied; and
when the given set of conditions of the given corresponding trigger are determined to no longer be satisfied, cause the one or more self-driving systems to autonomously resume a previous task that was interrupted by the given corresponding fallback task.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein causing the given self-driving system to control the vehicle includes causing the given self-driving system to stop executing a current task.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the type of service for the vehicle is required based on the given corresponding trigger by accessing a mapping of each trigger to corresponding fallback tasks.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle will not start if a base location is not stored on the memory.

11. A fleet management system comprising a server configured to:
receive data related to operation of a plurality of vehicles capable of autonomously driving;
determine one or more fallback locations for a given vehicle of the plurality of vehicles to drive to when executing at least one fallback task based on data received from the given vehicle and a type of service offered at a given location; and
send a dispatch command to the given vehicle, the dispatch command including the at least one fallback task, the one or more fallback locations, and at least one trigger corresponding to each fallback task, each trigger being a set of conditions that, when satisfied, indicate that a corresponding fallback task is to be executed and indicate how quickly the corresponding fallback task is to be executed,
wherein the dispatch command causes the given vehicle to execute the at least one fallback task by automatically determining a fallback location of the one or more fallback locations based on one or more characteristics of the fallback location and driving to the fallback location at a current or later time based on the at least one trigger corresponding to each fallback task,
wherein the dispatch command further includes a level of urgency for each trigger, the level of urgency is related to how quickly the fallback task associated with the trigger is executed after the set of conditions of the trigger is satisfied and
wherein the dispatch command controls the given vehicle according to the fallback task before a current task is completed when the level of urgency for the trigger is a certain level.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the server is further configured to send at least one updated fallback task in response to the received data.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the server is further configured to:
receive additional data indicating that the given vehicle has ended a passenger-related task prematurely to execute a fallback task of the at least one fallback task; and
send a second dispatch command a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles to cause the second vehicle to complete the passenger-related task.

14. The system of claim 11 , further comprising the plurality of vehicles capable of autonomously driving.

15. A method comprising:
storing in a memory, by one or more processors, one or more fallback tasks including instructions to drive to one or more fallback locations for a type of service for a vehicle and a corresponding trigger for each of the one or more fallback task, each corresponding trigger being a set of conditions that, when satisfied, indicate that the type of service is required for the vehicle;
receiving, by the one or more processors, status updates from one or more self-driving systems that control a vehicle;
determining, by the one or more processors, that a given set of conditions is satisfied based at least in part on the status updates, wherein the given set of conditions includes whether a connection exists between the one or more processors and a remote server;
determining, by the one or more processors, the type of service for the vehicle is required based on a given corresponding trigger that includes the given set of conditions;
automatically determining, by the

Assignees

• Waymo Llc

Inventors

• Herbach Joshua Seth
• Nemec Philip
• Fairfield Nathaniel

Classifications

• B60W2530/209

  Fuel quantity remaining in tank · CPC title

• B60W2050/0006

  Digital architecture hierarchy · CPC title

• B60W2050/0005

  Processor details or data handling, e.g. memory registers or chip architecture · CPC title

• B60W50/029 Primary

  Adapting to failures or work around with other constraints, e.g. circumvention by avoiding use of failed parts · CPC title

• G08G1/202 Primary

  Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching · CPC title