Redundant pose generation system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11740626-B2
Application number	US-202017093316-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2020
Priority date	Nov 7, 2017
Publication date	Aug 29, 2023
Grant date	Aug 29, 2023

Abstract

Techniques for performing multiple simultaneous pose generation for an autonomous vehicle. For instance, a system that navigates the autonomous vehicle can include at least a first component that determines first poses for the autonomous vehicle using at least a first portion of sensor data captured by one or more sensors and a second component that determines second poses for the autonomous vehicle using at least a second portion of the sensor data. The first component may have more computational resources than the second component and determine poses at a different frequency than the second component. The system may generate trajectories for the autonomous vehicle using the first poses when the first component is operating correctly. Additionally, the system may generate trajectories for the autonomous vehicle using the second poses when the first component is not operating correctly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving sensor data associated with a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a first portion of the sensor data, a first pose of the vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a second portion of the sensor data, a second pose of the vehicle, the second portion differing from the first portion;
determining a difference between the first pose and the second pose;
determining, based at least in part on the difference, a trajectory for the vehicle; and
controlling the vehicle to navigate in an environment according to the trajectory, wherein the trajectory is generated based on the second pose when determining that the difference meets or exceeds a threshold, or the trajectory is generated based on the first pose when determining that the difference does not meet the threshold.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
updating, based at least in part on the difference, at least one of the first pose or the second pose based at least in part on the other of the first pose or the second pose.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the trajectory is a first trajectory associated with a first time, and the method further comprises:
causing, prior to receiving the sensor data, the vehicle to navigate in the environment according to a second trajectory associated with a second time, the second trajectory being different from the first trajectory and the second time being different from the first time.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first pose comprises determining the first pose according to a first frequency of operation; and
determining the first pose comprises determining the second pose according to a second frequency of operation different from the first frequency of operation.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the difference between the first pose and the second pose comprises:
determining a distance between the first pose and the second pose; and
determining that the distance meets or exceeds a threshold distance.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the difference between the first pose and the second pose comprises:
determining a difference in an orientation of the first pose and the second pose; and
determining that the orientation meets or exceeds a pose threshold.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein:
the sensor data comprises one or more of lidar data, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, global positioning system (GPS) data, wheel encoder data, or camera data; and
the second portion of the sensor data is a subset of the first portion of the sensor data.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein:
the first pose is determined with a first component;
the second pose is determined with a second component; and
the second component being physically separated from the first component and comprising a different amount of computational resources than the first component.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the difference between the first pose and the second pose is based on one or more of a Euclidian distance or a Mahalanobis distance between the first pose and the second pose.

10. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving sensor data associated with a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a first portion of the sensor data, a first pose of the vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a second portion of the sensor data, a second pose of the vehicle;
determining a difference between the first pose and the second pose;
determining, based at least in part on the difference, a trajectory for the vehicle; and
controlling the vehicle to navigate in an environment according to the trajectory, wherein the trajectory is generated based on the second pose when determining that the difference meets or exceeds a threshold, or the trajectory is generated based on the first pose when determining that the difference does not meet the threshold.

11. The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein:
determining the first pose of the vehicle comprises processing the first portion of the sensor data using one or more first algorithms to determine the first pose; and
determining the second pose of the vehicle comprises processing the second portion of the sensor data using one or more second algorithms to determine the second pose, the one or more second algorithms being different than the one or more first algorithms.

12. The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein determining the difference between the first pose and the second pose comprises:
determining a distance between the first pose and the second pose; and
determining that the distance meets or exceeds a threshold distance.

13. The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein determining the difference between the first pose and the second pose comprises:
determining a difference in an orientation of the first pose and the second pose; and
determining that the orientation meets or exceeds a pose threshold.

14. The system as recited in claim 10 , the operations further comprising:
determining that the difference is equal to or less than a threshold distance or a pose threshold; and
updating the second pose based at least in part on the first pose.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving sensor data associated with a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a first portion of the sensor data, a first pose of the vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a second portion of the sensor data, a second pose of the vehicle;
determining a difference between the first pose and the second pose;
determining, based at least in part on the difference, a trajectory for the vehicle; and
controlling the vehicle to navigate in an environment according to the trajectory, wherein the trajectory is generated based on the second pose when determining that the difference meets or exceeds a threshold, or the trajectory is generated based on the first pose when determining that the difference does not meet the threshold.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
determining that the difference is equal to or less than a threshold distance or a pose threshold; and
determining, based at least in part on the difference being equal to or less than the threshold distance or the pose threshold, the trajectory using the first pose and exclusive of the second pose.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
determining that the difference meets or exceeds a threshold distance or a pose threshold; and
determining, based at least in part on the difference meeting or exceeding the threshold distance or the pose threshold, the trajectory using the second pose.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 15 , wherein the second pose is determined substantially simultaneously as the first pose.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 15 , wherein the trajectory is a first trajectory associat

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Hammond Marcus
• Kentley-Klay Timothy David

Classifications

• B60W60/0016

  of the vehicle or its occupants · CPC title

• G05D1/0077 Primary

  using redundant signals or controls · CPC title

• G05D1/0055 Primary

  with safety arrangements · CPC title

• G05D1/0212

  with means for defining a desired trajectory (involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287) · CPC title

• G05D1/0231

  using optical position detecting means (position-fixing by using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. optical position detecting means G01S5/16) · CPC title