Interactions between vehicle and teleoperations system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11809178-B2
Application number	US-202217722819-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2022
Priority date	Jul 7, 2017
Publication date	Nov 7, 2023
Grant date	Nov 7, 2023

Abstract

A method for autonomously operating a driverless vehicle along a path between a first geographic location and a destination may include receiving communication signals from the driverless vehicle. The communication signals may include sensor data from the driverless vehicle and data indicating occurrence of an event associated with the path. The communication signals may also include data indicating that a confidence level associated with the path is less than a threshold confidence level due to the event. The method may also include determining, via a teleoperations system, a level of guidance to provide the driverless vehicle based on data associated with the communication signals, and transmitting teleoperations signals to the driverless vehicle. The teleoperations signals may include guidance to operate the driverless vehicle according to the determined level of guidance, so that a vehicle controller maneuvers the driverless vehicle to avoid, travel around, or pass through the event.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving sensor data from one or more sensors associated with a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a location of the vehicle, environment data associated with an environment of the vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on the sensor data or the environment data, a driving corridor comprising a virtual boundary within which the vehicle travels according to a trajectory;
determining that an event occurs in the environment of the vehicle;
sending a request for guidance to a teleoperation system;
receiving, from the teleoperation system, a teleoperation signal, the teleoperation signal including one or more commands associated with the virtual boundary; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the teleoperation signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a first command to:
alter, as an altered virtual boundary, the virtual boundary of the driving corridor; and
operate the vehicle based at least in part on the altered virtual boundary.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a second command to:
generate a plurality of proposed trajectories based at least in part on the altered virtual boundary, each proposed trajectory of the plurality of proposed trajectories being associated with a confidence level;
determine, as a revised trajectory, an individual proposed trajectory having a highest confidence level from among the plurality of proposed trajectories; and
operate the vehicle to travel according to the revised trajectory.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a request to confirm or decline the revised trajectory.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving an input to decline the revised trajectory;
determining an alternative revised trajectory from the plurality of proposed trajectories; and
operating the vehicle to travel according to the alternative revised trajectory.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a command to:
operate the vehicle to travel along the revised trajectory to overcome the event and to return to the trajectory after overcoming the event.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the event occurs in the environment of the vehicle comprises:
determining first classification data associated with an object impeding the trajectory,
wherein the teleoperation signal comprises second classification data associated with the object that is different from the first classification data and a command to ignore the object, based at least in part on the second classification data, to permit the vehicle to travel past the object.

8. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving sensor data from one or more sensors associated with a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a location of the vehicle, environment data associated with an environment of the vehicle;
determining, based on at least one of the sensor data or the environment data, a driving corridor comprising a virtual boundary within which the vehicle travels according to a trajectory;
determining that an event occurs in the environment of the vehicle;
sending a request for guidance to a teleoperation system;
receiving, from the teleoperation system, a teleoperation signal, the teleoperation signal including one or more commands associated with the virtual boundary; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the teleoperation signal.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a command to:
operate the vehicle to travel along a revised trajectory to overcome the event and to continue along the trajectory after overcoming the event.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining that the event occurs in the environment of the vehicle comprises:
determining first classification data associated with an object impeding the trajectory,
wherein the teleoperation signal comprises second classification data associated with the object that is different from the first classification data and a command to ignore the object, based at least in part on the second classification data, to permit the vehicle to travel past the object.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a first command to:
alter, as an altered virtual boundary, the virtual boundary of the driving corridor; and
operate the vehicle based at least in part on the altered virtual boundary.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a second command to:
generate a plurality of proposed trajectories based at least in part on the altered virtual boundary, each proposed trajectory of the plurality of proposed trajectories being associated with a confidence level;
determine, as a revised trajectory, an individual proposed trajectory having a highest confidence level from among the plurality of proposed trajectories; and
operate the vehicle to travel according to the revised trajectory.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a request to confirm or decline the revised trajectory.

14. The system of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
receiving an input to decline the revised trajectory;
determining an alternative revised trajectory from the plurality of proposed trajectories; and
operating the vehicle to travel according to the alternative revised trajectory.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving sensor data from one or more sensors associated with a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on a location of the vehicle, environment data associated with an environment of the vehicle;
determining, based on at least one of the sensor data or the environment data, a driving corridor comprising a virtual boundary within which the vehicle travels according to a trajectory;
determining that an event occurs in the environment of the vehicle;
sending a request for guidance to a teleoperation system;
receiving, from the teleoperation system, a teleoperation signal, the teleoperation signal including one or more commands associated with the virtual boundary; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the teleoperation signal.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a first command to:
alter, as an altered virtual boundary, the virtual boundary of the driving corridor; and
operate the vehicle based at least in part on the altered virtual boundary.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the teleoperation signal comprises a second command to:
generate a plurality of proposed trajectories based at least in part on the altered virtual boundary, each proposed trajectory of the plurality of proposed trajectories being associated with a confidence level;
determine, as a revised trajectory, an individual proposed trajectory having a highest confidence level from among the plurality of proposed trajectories; and
operate the vehicle to travel according to the revised trajectory.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the tele

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Lockwood Amanda Lee Kelly
• Gogna Ravi
• Linscott Gary
• Caldwell Timothy
• Kobilarov Marin
• Orecchio Paul
• Xie Dan
• Rege Ashutosh Gajanan
• Levinson Jesse Sol

Classifications

• G05D1/0038 Primary

  by providing the operator with simple or augmented images from one or more cameras located onboard the vehicle, e.g. tele-operation (images analyzed by a computer and used for automatic navigation G05D1/0246) · CPC title

• B60W30/0956

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

• G05D1/0214

  in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas (monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13) · CPC title

• G08G1/164

  Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles · CPC title

• G08G1/165

  for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees · CPC title