Systems and methods for trajectory based safekeeping of vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11072326-B2
Application number	US-201916547718-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 22, 2019
Priority date	Aug 22, 2019
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods for operating a vehicle. The methods comprise: generating, by a computing device, a vehicle trajectory for the vehicle that is in motion; detecting an object within a given distance from the vehicle; generating, by the computing device, at least one possible object trajectory for the object which was detected; performing, by the computing device, a collision check to determine that there remains time to react safely to worst-case behavior by the object (the collision check being based on the vehicle trajectory and at least one possible object trajectory); and performing operations, by the computing device, to selectively cause the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver based on results of the collision check.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating a vehicle, comprising:
generating, by a computing device, a vehicle trajectory for the vehicle that is in motion;
detecting an object within a given distance from the vehicle;
generating, by the computing device, at least one possible object trajectory for the object which was detected;
performing, by the computing device, a collision check to determine that there remains time to react safely to worst-case behavior by the object, the collision check being based on the vehicle trajectory and the at least one possible object trajectory; and
performing operations, by the computing device, to selectively cause the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver based on results of the collision check;
wherein the collision check comprises:
determining whether the vehicle trajectory and the at least one possible object trajectory intersect each other;
determining a collision time when the vehicle trajectory and the at least one possible object trajectory intersect each other, the collision time comprising a time at which the collision will occur if the vehicle trajectory is followed by the vehicle and the at least one possible object trajectory is followed by the object;
comparing the collision time to a threshold time value; and
determining whether the collision can be avoided if the vehicle trajectory is followed by the vehicle and any one of a plurality of dynamically generated emergency maneuvers is performed in a pre-defined period of time, when the collision time is equal to or less than the threshold time value.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is selectively caused to perform the emergency maneuver when a determination is made that the collision cannot be avoided in the pre-defined period of time.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of dynamically generated emergency maneuvers comprise
an emergency maneuver that includes a braking command and is determined based on the vehicle trajectory and the selected possible object trajectory,
an emergency maneuver that includes at least a steering command, and a braking command or an acceleration command, and that is determined via a gradient descent from an active vehicle trajectory on an objective function which penalizes collision and ride discomfort, and
a pre-defined emergency maneuver that has been optimized via a gradient descent from the active vehicle trajectory on the objective function which penalizes collision and ride discomfort.

4. A method for operating a vehicle, comprising:
generating, by a computing device, a vehicle trajectory for the vehicle that is in motion;
detecting an object within a given distance from the vehicle;
generating, by the computing device, at least first and second possible object trajectories for the object which was detected;
selecting, by the computing device, a possible object trajectory from the first and second possible object trajectories which provides a worst-case collision scenario for the vehicle;
performing, by the computing device, a collision check to determine that there remains time to react safely to the worst-case collision scenario, the collision check being based on the vehicle trajectory and the selected possible object trajectory; and
performing operations, by the computing device, to selectively cause the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver based on results of the collision check.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the collision check comprises determining whether the vehicle trajectory and the selected possible object trajectory intersect each other.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the vehicle trajectory is deemed safe when a determination is made that the vehicle trajectory and the selected possible object trajectory do not intersect each other.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the collision check further comprises determining a collision time when the vehicle trajectory and the selected possible object trajectory intersect each other, the collision time comprising a time at which the collision will occur if the vehicle trajectory is followed by the vehicle and the selected possible object trajectory is followed by the object.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the collision check further comprises comparing the collision time to a threshold time value.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the vehicle trajectory is deemed safe when the collision time is greater than the threshold time value.

10. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising causing the vehicle to perform a cautious maneuver instead of the emergency maneuver based on the results of a collision check.

11. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the emergency maneuver comprises an accelerate-and-veer maneuver to avoid a collision.

12. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the possible object trajectory is selected from the first and second possible object trajectories based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle and a direction of travel of the vehicle.

13. A system, comprising:
a processor;
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for operating a vehicle, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
generate a vehicle trajectory for the vehicle that is in motion;
detect an object within a given distance from the vehicle;
generate at least one possible object trajectory for the object which was detected;
perform a collision check to determine that there remains time to react safely to worst-case behavior by the object, the collision check being based on the vehicle trajectory and the at least one possible object trajectory; and

selectively cause the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver based on results of the collision check;
wherein the collision check comprises:
determining whether the vehicle trajectory and the at least one possible object trajectory intersect each other;
determining a collision time when the vehicle trajectory and the at least one possible object trajectory intersect each other, the collision time comprising a time at which the collision will occur if the vehicle trajectory is followed by the vehicle and the at least one possible object trajectory is followed by the object;
comparing the collision time to a threshold time value; and
determining whether the collision can be avoided if the vehicle trajectory is followed by the vehicle and any one of a plurality of dynamically generated emergency maneuvers is performed in a pre-defined period of time, when the collision time is equal to or less than the threshold time value.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the vehicle is selectively caused to perform the emergency maneuver when a determination is made that the collision cannot be avoided in the pre-defined period of time.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the plurality of dynamically generated emergency maneuvers comprise
an emergency maneuver that includes a braking command and is determined based on the vehicle trajectory and the selected possible object trajectory,
an emergency maneuver that includes at least a steering command, and a braking command or an acceleration command, and that is determined via a gradient descent from an active vehicle trajectory on an objective function which penalizes collision and ride discomfort, and
a pre-defined emergency maneuver that has been optimized via a gradient descent from the active vehicle trajectory on the objective function whic

Assignees

• Argo Ai Llc

Inventors

• Costa Albert
• Ollis Mark
• Petroff Thomas
• Browning Brett

Classifications

• B60W30/0956 Primary

  the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters · CPC title

• B60W2554/00

  Input parameters relating to objects · CPC title

• B60W30/09 Primary

  Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering · CPC title