Inclement weather condition avoidance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11385648-B2
Application number	US-201916727940-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 27, 2019
Priority date	Dec 27, 2019
Publication date	Jul 12, 2022
Grant date	Jul 12, 2022

Abstract

A vehicle relocator may include one or more processors, which are configured to receive first sensor data representing a current or predicted weather condition; receive second sensor data representing at least position or a vicinity of a vehicle; determine from at least the first sensor data and the second sensor data a risk of damage to the vehicle; and if the determined risk is outside of a target range, send an instruction for the vehicle to travel to an alternate location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle relocator comprising:
one or more processors, configured to:
receive a first electrical signal from a first sensor, wherein the first electrical signal represents first sensor data corresponding to a current or predicted weather condition;
receive a second electrical signal from a second sensor, wherein the second electrical signal represents second sensor data corresponding to at least a position or a vicinity of a parked autonomous vehicle;
determine from at least the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal a risk of damage to the parked autonomous vehicle at the position or vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle due to the current or predicted weather condition; and
if the determined risk is outside of a target range, send an electrical signal representing an instruction for the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel to an alternate location;
wherein the one or more processors determining the risk of damage to the parked autonomous vehicle at the position or vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle due to the current or predicted weather condition and instructing the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel to the alternate location allows the vehicle relocater to control the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel from an area of greater risk of damage due to the current or predicted weather to an area of lesser risk of damage due to the current or predicted weather.

2. The vehicle relocator of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor data comprises position data representing a detected positon of the parked autonomous vehicle and map data representing a vicinity of the detected position.

3. The vehicle relocator of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor data comprises position data representing a detected positon of the parked autonomous vehicle, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine map data representing a vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle based on the detected position and one or more stored maps.

4. The vehicle relocator of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a hazard in a vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle based at least on the detected position and the map data.

5. The vehicle relocator of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the risk of damage using at least the current or predicted weather condition and the detected hazard.

6. The vehicle relocator of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to identify the alternate location using the second sensor data.

7. The vehicle relocator of claim 1 , wherein sending the instruction to travel to the alternate location comprises sending an instruction to one or more autonomous driving processors, for the one or more autonomous driving processors to control the parked autonomous vehicle to travel to the alternate location.

8. A method of vehicle relocation comprising:
receiving a first electrical signal from a first sensor, wherein the first electrical signal represents first sensor data corresponding to a current or predicted weather condition;
receiving a second electrical signal from a second sensor, wherein the second electrical signal represents second sensor data corresponding to at least position or a vicinity of a parked autonomous vehicle;
determining from at least the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal a risk of damage to the parked autonomous vehicle; and
if the determined risk is outside of a target range, sending an electrical signal representing an instruction for the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel to an alternate location;
wherein the determining the risk of damage to the parked autonomous vehicle at the position or vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle due to the current or predicted weather condition and the sending the electrical signal representing the instruction for the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel to the alternate location allows the vehicle relocater to control the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel from an area of greater risk of damage due to the current or predicted weather to an area of lesser risk of damage due to the current or predicted weather.

9. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , wherein the second sensor data comprises position data representing a detected positon of the parked autonomous vehicle and map data representing a vicinity of the detected position.

10. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , wherein the second sensor data comprises position data representing a detected positon of the parked autonomous vehicle; further comprising determining map data representing a vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle based on the detected position and one or more stored maps.

11. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 10 , further comprising determining a hazard in a vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle based at least on the detected position and the map data.

12. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 11 , wherein the risk of damage is determined using at least the current or predicted weather condition and the detected hazard.

13. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 12 , further comprising determining the alternate location using the second sensor data.

14. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , further comprising receiving image sensor data representing a vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle; wherein the alternate location is determined using the image sensor data.

15. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , wherein the alternate location is determined as a location without a detected hazard.

16. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , wherein the alternate location is determined as a location at least a predetermined distance from the detected hazard.

17. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , wherein the second sensor data comprises image sensor data representing a vicinity of the detected position.

18. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 17 , further comprising determining a hazard in a vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle at least by detecting a hazard in the image sensor data.

19. The method of vehicle relocation of claim 8 , wherein the risk of damage is detected using at least the current or predicted weather condition and the detected hazard.

20. One or more non-transitory computer readable media configured to cause one or more processors, when executed, to perform the method of:
receiving a first electrical signal from a first sensor, wherein the first electrical signal represents first sensor data corresponding to a current or predicted weather condition;
receiving a second electrical signal from a second sensor, wherein the second electrical signal represents second sensor data corresponding to at least position or a vicinity of a parked autonomous vehicle;
determining from at least the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal a risk of damage to the parked autonomous vehicle; and
if the determined risk is outside of a target range, sending an electrical signal representing an instruction for the parked autonomous vehicle to autonomously travel to an alternate location;
wherein the determining the risk of damage to the parked autonomous vehicle at the position or vicinity of the parked autonomous vehicle due to the current or predicted weather condition and the sending the electrical signal representing the instruction for the pa

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Pohl Daniel
• Fox Maik Sven
• Tanriover Cagri

Classifications

• G01W1/02

  Instruments for indicating weather conditions by measuring two or more variables, e.g. humidity, pressure, temperature, cloud cover or wind speed (G01W1/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02A90/10

  Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation · CPC title

• G01W1/10 Primary

  Devices for predicting weather conditions (computers per se G06; display devices G09) · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• G01W2203/00

  Real-time site-specific personalized weather information, e.g. nowcasting · CPC title