Limited vehicular operation with a faulted component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12017668-B1
Application number	US-202117489142-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 29, 2021
Priority date	Sep 29, 2021
Publication date	Jun 25, 2024
Grant date	Jun 25, 2024

Abstract

Techniques for enabling operation of a vehicle after detecting a fault associated with a component of the vehicle are described herein. A vehicle computing system can monitor components of the vehicle and identify a fault associated with a component. Based on the fault, the vehicle computing system can cause the vehicle to cease (e.g., stop) or limit operation in an environment. The vehicle computing system can receive a request to override the fault and continue operation of the vehicle in a recovery mode with limited parameters (e.g., limited speed, acceleration, etc.). Based on a determination that the request to override the fault is valid, the vehicle computing system can cause the vehicle to be controlled, by an operator or an autonomous controller, according to parameters of the recovery mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the system to:
receive, during an operation of a vehicle in a normal mode, data associated with a fault of a component of the vehicle;
based at least in part on the fault of the component, controlling the vehicle to a stopped location, wherein the stopped location is associated with preventing the vehicle from moving;
receive a request to enter a recovery mode associated with the operation of the vehicle, wherein the recovery mode comprises at least one parameter that is different from the normal mode and the recovery mode enables the vehicle to move under its own power;
determine that at least one of the component or the fault is associated with the recovery mode;
determine that the request is valid based at least in part on a determination that the at least one of the component or the fault is associated with the recovery mode; and
based at least in part on the determination that the request is valid, cause the vehicle to be controlled according to the recovery mode.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further configure the system to:
receive, from an operator of the vehicle at a first time, a first input associated with arming the recovery mode;
receive, from the operator of the vehicle at a second time after the first time, a second input associated with activating the recovery mode; and
determine, based at least in part on the second time being within a threshold time period of the first time, that the request is valid.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle enters the recovery mode at a first time and the processor-executable instructions further configure the system to:
determine that a current time is equal to or greater than a threshold period from the first time; and
cause the vehicle to be controlled to a second stopped location according to the normal mode.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further configure the system to:
receive, from an operator of the vehicle at a first time, a first input associated with disarming the recovery mode;
receive, from the operator of the vehicle at a second time after the first time, a second input associated with deactivating the recovery mode; and
based at least in part on the second time being within a threshold time period of the first time, cause the vehicle to be controlled to a second stopped location based at least in part on the fault.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein causing the vehicle to be controlled according to the recovery mode comprises at least one of:
enabling operation of the vehicle by an operator within parameters of the recovery mode; or
controlling the vehicle according to the parameters of the recovery mode.

6. A method comprising:
receiving data associated with a fault of a component of a vehicle operating in an environment;
based at least in part on the fault of the component, controlling the vehicle to a stopped location, wherein the stopped location is associated with ceasing self-propelled movement of the vehicle in the environment;
receiving a request to enter a recovery mode associated with a continued operation of the vehicle;
determining that at least one of the component or the fault is associated with the recovery mode;
determining that the request is valid based at least in part by determining that the at least one of the component or the fault is associated with the recovery mode;
based at least in part on a determination that the request to enter the recovery mode is valid, controlling the vehicle according to the recovery mode.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, from an operator of the vehicle at a first time, a first input associated with arming the recovery mode;
receiving, from the operator of the vehicle at a second time after the first time, a second input associated with activating the recovery mode; and
determining, based at least in part on the second time being within a threshold time period of the first time, that the request is valid.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle enters the recovery mode at a first time, the method further comprising:
determining that a current time is equal to or greater than a threshold time period from the first time; and
causing the vehicle to be controlled to a second stopped location according to a normal mode.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, at the second stopped location, a second request to enter the recovery mode, the second request comprising:
a first input associated with arming the recovery mode; and
a second input associated with activating the recovery mode;

based at least in part on a determination that a time period between the first input and the second input meets or exceeds the threshold time period, determining that the second request is invalid; and
based at least in part on determining that the second request is invalid, causing the vehicle to maintain the second stopped location.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, from an operator of the vehicle at a first time, a first input associated with disarming the recovery mode;
receiving, from the operator of the vehicle at a second time after the first time, a second input associated with deactivating the recovery mode; and
based at least in part on the second time being within a threshold time period of the first time, causing the vehicle to be controlled to a second stopped location according to a normal mode of operation.

11. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
while the vehicle is operating in the recovery mode, identifying a second fault associated with a second component of the vehicle;
determining that a constraint associated with the second fault is associated with a normal mode; and
withholding data associated with the constraint from vehicle control considerations associated with the recovery mode.

12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining, based at least in part on the fault, a type of constraint on an operation of the vehicle; and
at least one of:
determining that the request is valid based on a determination that the type of constraint is associated with the recovery mode; or
determining that the request is invalid based on a determination that the type of constraint is associated with a failure mode.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the type of constraint comprises at least one of:
a speed;
an acceleration;
a turn radius;
a vehicle trajectory;
a direction of travel of the vehicle;
a drivetrain configuration of the vehicle;
a mission of the vehicle;
a voltage associated with an electric motor; or
a passive collision response system.

14. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving data associated with a fault of a component of a vehicle operating in an environment;
based at least in part on the fault of the component, controlling the vehicle to a stopped location, wherein the stopped location is associated with ceasing the operations of the vehicle in the environment receiving a request to enter a recovery mode associated with a continued operation of the vehicle;
determining that at least one of the component or the fault is associated with the recovery mode;
determining that the request is valid based at least in part by determining that the at least

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Lopez Matthew Daniel
• Macgregor Collin
• Karmarkar Udayan Pushparaj
• Automata Lilith Rogue
• Sankararaman Ganapathy

Classifications

• B60W50/035

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

• B60W2050/021

  Means for detecting failure or malfunction · CPC title

• B60W2050/007

  Switching between manual and automatic parameter input, and vice versa · CPC title

• B60W2050/0054

  Cut-off filters, retarders, delaying means, dead zones, threshold values or cut-off frequency · CPC title

• B60W60/0015

  specially adapted for safety · CPC title