Action-based reference systems for vehicle control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11142188-B2
Application number	US-201916732087-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2019
Priority date	Dec 31, 2019
Publication date	Oct 12, 2021
Grant date	Oct 12, 2021

Abstract

Techniques for controlling a vehicle on and off a route structure in an environment are discussed herein. A vehicle computing system controls the vehicle along a route based on a route-based reference system. The vehicle computing system may determine to operate off the route, such as to operate in reverse, park, etc. The vehicle computing system may modify vehicle operations to an inertial-based reference system to navigate to a location off the route. The vehicle computing system may determine a vehicle trajectory to the location off the route based on a reference trajectory between a location on the route and the location off the route and a corridor associated therewith. The vehicle computing system may transition between the route-based reference system and the inertial-based reference system, based on a determination to operate on or off the route.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
a sensor;
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the autonomous vehicle to perform operations comprising:
controlling the autonomous vehicle through an environment based at least in part on a route to a destination, wherein the autonomous vehicle is controlled based at least in part on a route-based reference system;
determining that the autonomous vehicle operating on the route is within a threshold distance of the destination;
identifying, based at least in part on sensor data from the sensor, a stopping location for a vehicle cease forward movement, wherein the stopping location is located off the route and satisfies a condition for stopping;
determining an initial location associated with initiating a stopping action, wherein the initial location is associated with the route;
determining a vehicle trajectory from the initial location to the stopping location, wherein the vehicle trajectory is determined based at least in part on an inertial-based reference system;
determining that the autonomous vehicle is within a threshold distance of the initial location; and
based at least in part on the autonomous vehicle being within the threshold distance, controlling the vehicle based at least in part on an inertial-based reference system and the vehicle trajectory.

2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , wherein determining the vehicle trajectory comprises:
determining a reference trajectory between the initial location and the stopping location; and
determining, based at least in part on the reference trajectory, a corridor between the initial location and the stopping location, the corridor indicative of a region of drivable surfaces on either side of the reference trajectory;
wherein the vehicle trajectory comprises an optimized trajectory determined based at least in part on the reference trajectory and the corridor.

3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the reference trajectory is determined based at least in part on at least one of:
a Bezier curve;
a series of clothoids; or
a cubic spline curve.

4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 2 , wherein determining the corridor comprises:
identifying a first area on a first side of the reference trajectory, the first area extending a distance in a first direction from the reference trajectory from the initial location toward the stopping location;
identifying a second area on a second side of the reference trajectory, the second area extending the distance in a second direction from the reference trajectory from the initial location toward the stopping location; and
performing at least one of:
based at least in part on determining that an object is located in at least one of the first area or the second area, removing a section of the at least one of the first area or the second area, wherein the section is associated with the object and the corridor comprises the first area and the second area with the section removed; or
based at least in part on determining that the object is not located in the at least one of the first area or the second area, determining that the corridor comprises the first area and the second area.

5. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the threshold distance is a first threshold distance and wherein the condition comprises at least one of:
the stopping location being within a second threshold distance of the destination;
the stopping location being clear of objects; or
a length and a width of the stopping location being visible to the autonomous vehicle.

6. A method comprising:
determining a first location associated with a vehicle following a first trajectory, the first trajectory based at least in part on a route associated with a first reference system associated with a route-based reference system;
identifying a second location for the vehicle to move in an environment, the second location being unassociated with the route;
determining that a condition associated with controlling the vehicle off the route to the second location is satisfied; and
determining, based at least in part on the condition being satisfied, a second trajectory from the first location to the second location, wherein the vehicle trajectory is determined based at least in part on a second reference system associated with an inertial-based reference system.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle trajectory and the second reference system.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the vehicle trajectory comprises:
determining a reference trajectory between the first location and the second location; and
determining, based at least in part on the reference trajectory, a corridor between the first location and the second location, the corridor indicative of a drivable surface on either side of the reference trajectory,
wherein the vehicle trajectory comprises an optimized trajectory determined based at least in part on the reference trajectory and the corridor.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the corridor comprises:
identifying a first area on a first side of the reference trajectory, the first area extending a distance in a first direction from the reference trajectory from the first location toward the second location;
identifying a second area on a second side of the reference trajectory, the second area extending the distance in a second direction from the reference trajectory from the first location toward the second location;
receiving sensor data from a sensor associated with the vehicle; and
performing at least one of:
determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, that an object is located in at least one of the first area or the second area; and
based at least in part on determining that he object is located in the at least one of the first area or the second area, removing a section of the at least one of the first area or the second area, wherein the section is associated with the object and the corridor comprises the first area and the second area with the section removed; or
determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, that the object is not located in the at least one of the first area or the second area; and
based at least in part on determining that the object is not located in the at least one of the first area or the second area, determining that the corridor comprises the first area and the second area.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the reference trajectory is determined based at least in part on at least one of:
a Bezier curve;
a series of clothoids; or
a cubic spline curve.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the condition is satisfied at a first time, the method further comprising:
determining a first cost associated with the second trajectory;
determining a third trajectory associated with the vehicle continuing along the route based at least in part on the first reference system;
determining a second cost associated with the third trajectory;
determining that the second cost is less than the second cost; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the third trajectory and the first reference system.

12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining a first cost associated with the first trajectory, wherein the first trajectory is associated with a route-based action;
determining a second cost associated with the second trajectory, wherein the second trajectory is associated with an off-route action;
determining that the second cos

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Funke Joseph
• Qian Steven Cheng
• Kobilarov Marin

Classifications

• B62D15/0285

  Parking performed automatically · CPC title

• G01C21/16

  by integrating acceleration or speed, i.e. inertial navigation · CPC title

• G01C21/3461

  Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types or segments such as motorways, toll roads or ferries · CPC title

• G08G1/141

  with means giving the indication of available parking spaces · CPC title

• B60W30/06 Primary

  Automatic manoeuvring for parking · CPC title