Deceleration curb-based direction checking and lane keeping system for autonomous driving vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10549752-B2
Application number	US-201715518360-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2017
Priority date	Mar 30, 2017
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

A lane departure detection system detects that an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) is departing from the lane in which the ADV is driving based on sensor data captured when the ADV contact a deceleration curb such as a speed bump laid across the lane. When the ADV contacts the deceleration curb, the lane departure detection system detects and calculates an angle of a moving direction of the ADV vs a longitudinal direction of the deceleration curb. Based on the angle, the system calculates how much the moving direction of the ADV is off compared to a lane direction of the lane. The lane direction is typically substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the deceleration curb. A control command such as a speed control command and/or a steering control command is generated based on the angle to correct the moving direction of the ADV.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for operating an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising:
detecting, at a first point in time, that a first wheel of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) contacts a deceleration curb disposed on a lane in which the ADV is moving;
detecting, at a second point in time, that a second wheel of the ADV contacts the deceleration curb;
calculating an angle between an axle coupled to the first wheel and the second wheel and a lane direction of the lane based on a difference between the first point in time and the second point in time in view of a current speed of the ADV;
determining whether the angle is greater than a predetermined threshold, the predetermined threshold having been determined based on a width of the lane; and
generating a control command based on the angle to adjust a moving direction of the ADV in response to a determination that the angle is greater than the predetermined threshold, such that the ADV remains within the lane according to the lane direction of the lane.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wheel contacting the deceleration curb is detected via a first sensor associated with the first wheel.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second wheel contacting the deceleration curb is detected via a second sensor associated with the second wheel.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are tire pressure sensors or motion sensors disposed near the first wheel and second wheel respectively.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating an angle between an axle coupled to the first wheel and the second wheel and a lane direction of the lane comprises:
calculating a first distance along the lane direction that the ADV moves from the first point in time to the second point in time based on the current speed of the ADV; and
determining a second distance between the first wheel and the second wheel, wherein the angle is calculated based on the first distance and the second distance.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the angle is calculated based on a tangent relationship between the first distance and the second distance.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle represents a difference between the lane direction and the moving direction of the ADV.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
detecting, at a first point in time, that a first wheel of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) contacts a deceleration curb disposed on a lane in which the ADV is moving;
detecting, at a second point in time, that a second wheel of the ADV contacts the deceleration curb;
calculating an angle between an axle coupled to the first wheel and the second wheel and a lane direction of the lane based on a difference between the first point in time and the second point in time in view of a current speed of the ADV;
determining whether the angle is greater than a predetermined threshold, the predetermined threshold having been determined based on a width of the lane; and
generating a control command based on the angle to adjust a moving direction of the ADV in response to a determination that the angle is greater than the predetermined threshold, such that the ADV remains within the lane according to the lane direction of the lane.

9. The machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the first wheel contacting the deceleration curb is detected via a first sensor associated with the first wheel.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the second wheel contacting the deceleration curb is detected via a second sensor associated with the second wheel.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are tire pressure sensors or motion sensors disposed near the first wheel and second wheel respectively.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein calculating an angle between an axle coupled to the first wheel and the second wheel and a lane direction of the lane comprises:
calculating a first distance along the lane direction that the ADV moves from the first point in time to the second point in time based on the current speed of the ADV; and
determining a second distance between the first wheel and the second wheel, wherein the angle is calculated based on the first distance and the second distance.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the angle is calculated based on a tangent relationship between the first distance and the second distance.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the angle represents a difference between the lane direction and the moving direction of the ADV.

15. A data processing system, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations including
detecting, at a first point in time, that a first wheel of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) contacts a deceleration curb disposed on a lane in which the ADV is moving,
detecting, at a second point in time, that a second wheel of the ADV contacts the deceleration curb,
calculating an angle between an axle coupled to the first wheel and the second wheel and a lane direction of the lane based on a difference between the first point in time and the second point in time in view of a current speed of the ADV,
determining whether the angle is greater than a predetermined threshold, the predetermined threshold having been determined based on a width of the lane, and
generating a control command based on the angle to adjust a moving direction of the ADV in response to a determination that the angle is greater than the predetermined threshold, such that the ADV remains within the lane according to the lane direction of the lane.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first wheel contacting the deceleration curb is detected via a first sensor associated with the first wheel.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the second wheel contacting the deceleration curb is detected via a second sensor associated with the second wheel.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are tire pressure sensors or motion sensors disposed near the first wheel and second wheel respectively.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein calculating an angle between an axle coupled to the first wheel and the second wheel and a lane direction of the lane comprises:
calculating a first distance along the lane direction that the ADV moves from the first point in time to the second point in time based on the current speed of the ADV; and
determining a second distance between the first wheel and the second wheel, wherein the angle is calculated based on the first distance and the second distance.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the angle is calculated based on a tangent relationship between the first distance and the second distance.

21. The system of claim 15 , wherein the angle represents a difference between the lane direction and the moving direction of the ADV.

Assignees

• Baidu Usa Llc
• Baidu Com Times Tech Beijing Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zhu Fan
• Kong Qi
• Luo Qi
• Yu Xiang
• Hu Sen
• Zhu Zhenguang
• Fu Xiaoxin
• He Jiarui
• Li Hongye
• Pan Yuchang
• Xia Zhongpu
• Zhao Chunming
• Yang Guang
• Wang Jingao

Classifications

• B60W40/06

  Road conditions · CPC title

• B60W2422/70

  on the wheel or the tyre · CPC title

• B60W30/12 Primary

  Lane keeping · CPC title

• B60W2720/24

  Direction of travel · CPC title

• B60W2554/60

  Traversable objects, e.g. speed bumps or curbs · CPC title