Fault coordination and management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11535270-B2
Application number	US-201916717913-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2019
Priority date	Dec 17, 2019
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

The described techniques relate to coordinating and managing faults of systems of a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, to enable the vehicle to respond safely and appropriately to the faults. In examples, a centralized fault monitor system receives faults from different vehicle systems, maps the received faults to associated fault constraints, prioritizes different and shared parameters between the fault constraints, and communicates the constraint parameters to appropriate vehicle systems accordingly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first vehicle system of a vehicle, a first fault indication associated with the first vehicle system;
determining, based at least in part on the first fault indication, a first constraint to be applied by the vehicle;
receiving, from a second vehicle system of the vehicle, a second fault indication associated with the second vehicle system;
determining, based at least in part on the second fault indication, a second constraint to be applied by the vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a presence of the first fault indication and the second fault indication, a third constraint to be applied by the vehicle, the third constraint being a different constraint than the first constraint and the second constraint; and
controlling the vehicle to perform an action based at least in part on the third constraint, wherein the third constraint constrains a mission type of multiple mission types of the vehicle, the multiple mission types comprising:
all driving missions;
unoccupied driving missions that prevent a passenger from entering the vehicle;
stationary service missions that are associated with maintenance of the vehicle; and
no missions.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein controlling the vehicle to perform the action comprises controlling a third vehicle system, the third vehicle system being a different vehicle system than the first vehicle system and the second vehicle system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the third constraint comprises a command to alter performance of the first vehicle system or the second vehicle system.

4. The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising determining a severity level of the first fault indication or the second fault indication, wherein determining the third constraint to be applied by the vehicle is further based on the severity level of the first fault indication or the second fault indication.

5. A method comprising:
receiving, from a first vehicle system of a vehicle, a first fault indication associated with the first vehicle system;
receiving, from a second vehicle system of the vehicle, a second fault indication associated with the second vehicle system;
determining, based at least in part on a presence of the first fault indication and the second fault indication, a constraint to be applied by the vehicle; and
controlling the vehicle to perform an action based at least in part on the constraint, wherein the constraint constrains a mission type of multiple mission types of the vehicle, the multiple mission types comprising:
all driving missions;
unoccupied driving missions that prevent a passenger from entering the vehicle;
stationary service missions that are associated with maintenance of the vehicle; and
no missions.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint is a first constraint comprising a first instruction, the method further comprising:
determining, based at least in part on the first fault indication, a second constraint comprising a second instruction to be applied by the vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on the second fault indication, a third constraint to be applied by the vehicle, where the second constraint and the third constraint, when applied by one or more of the first or second vehicle systems, cause the first or second vehicle systems to alter a common state of the vehicle; and
determining that the first instruction is more constraining on the action than the second instruction, wherein determining the first constraint is further based on the first instruction.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint is a first constraint, the method further comprising:
determining, based at least in part on the first fault indication, a second constraint to be applied by the vehicle; and
determining, based at least in part on the second fault indication, a third constraint to be applied by the vehicle, wherein the first constraint is a different constraint than the second constraint and the third constraint.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first vehicle system or the second vehicle system comprises:
a drive manager system that controls operations of vehicle components to execute a trajectory;
a body manager system that monitors the vehicle components;
a manual control system that enables the vehicle to be controlled, in part, by a human driver;
a remote control system;
a fault monitor system;
a planning system;
a power manager system;
a temperature regulation system; or
an electronic control unit.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint comprises an alternate trajectory other than a nominal trajectory, the alternate trajectory comprising one or more of:
a first trajectory that causes the vehicle to stop within a first time period;
a second trajectory that causes the vehicle to stop within a second time period, the second time period being shorter than the first time period; or
an emergency stop trajectory.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint comprises an instruction, that when executed by the vehicle, causes the vehicle to one or more of:
limit a steering angle of the vehicle;
limit a steering rate of the vehicle;
limit a direction of travel of the vehicle to a first direction;
limit a grade of a surface to be traversed by the vehicle;
limit a speed of the vehicle; or
limit a turning radius of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving a notification that the first fault is resolved;
transmitting, based at least in part on the notification, a signal to a remote system;
receiving, from the remote system, a confirmation of the first fault being resolved; and
controlling the vehicle according to a nominal operating parameter based at least in part on the confirmation.

12. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint comprises an instruction that when executed by the vehicle imposes an environmental condition limit corresponding to:
a type of terrain that the vehicle is permitted to traverse;
a geographic region that the vehicle is permitted to traverse;
a type of weather that the vehicle is permitted to operate in;
a type of traffic that the vehicle is permitted to operate in; or
a type of road network that the vehicle is permitted to traverse.

13. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint further constrains an amount of power output by the first vehicle system, the second vehicle system, or a third vehicle system.

14. The method of claim 5 , wherein the constraint further constrains steering of the vehicle, wherein the steering is constrained based at least in part on:
a number of wheels that control the steering of the vehicle;
a velocity of the vehicle; or
a constant restriction on the steering independent of the velocity of the vehicle.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first vehicle system of a vehicle, a first fault indication associated with the first vehicle system;
receiving, from a second vehicle system of the vehicle, a second fault indication associated with the second vehicle system;
determining, based at least in part on a presence of the first fault indication and the second fault indication, a constraint

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Lopez Matthew Daniel
• Macgregor Collin
• Patel Radhika Jitendra
• Redfern Derek
• Smeds Kristofer Sven

Classifications

• G07C5/0808

  Diagnosing performance data (testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005) · CPC title

• B60W50/12 Primary

  Limiting control by the driver depending on vehicle state, e.g. interlocking means for the control input for preventing unsafe operation · CPC title

• B60W60/00186

  related to the vehicle · CPC title

• B60W50/035

  Bringing the control units into a predefined state, e.g. giving priority to particular actuators · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title