Protolanes for testing autonomous vehicle intent

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12371052-B2
Application number	US-202217846641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2022
Priority date	Jun 22, 2022
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product aspects for testing autonomous vehicle intent using protolanes. For example, the method includes selecting a first lane segment of a roadway within a geonet, wherein the geonet comprises a plurality of lane segments. It is determined that the first lane segment corresponds to a protolane of a set of protolanes, wherein the protolane is associated with one or more additional lane segments of the plurality of lane segments. The protolane is associated with the first lane segment based on the determination that the first lane segment corresponds to the protolane.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
selecting, by one or more computing devices, a first lane segment of a roadway within a geonet, wherein the geonet comprises a plurality of lane segments;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, that the first lane segment corresponds to a protolane of a set of protolanes, wherein the protolane is associated with one or more additional lane segments of the plurality of lane segments;
associating, by the one or more computing devices, the protolane with the first lane segment based on the determination that the first lane segment corresponds to the protolane;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a plurality of routes between a start point and an end point in the geonet, wherein the plurality of routes include an improved route over an unassigned lane segment that is unassigned to the geonet; and
assigning, by the one or more computing devices, the unassigned lane segment to the geonet based on a correspondence between the unassigned lane segment and the protolane such that the usable portions of the geonet is increased without expanding a test space.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting, by the one or more computing devices, a second lane segment within the geonet;
creating, by the one or more computing devices, an additional protolane that corresponds to the second lane segment, based on a determination that the second lane segment does not have a corresponding protolane within the set of protolanes; and
including, by the one or more computing devices, the additional protolane in the set of protolanes.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
clustering, by the one or more computing devices, the plurality of lane segments based on a set of features; and
creating, by the one or more computing devices, the protolane of the set of protolanes based on a feature of the set of features corresponding to a cluster of the plurality of lane segments.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the set of features comprises a lane segment feature that is exclusionary.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a first route between the start point and the end point in the geonet over a first set of lane segments of the plurality of lane segments that are assigned to the geonet;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a second route between the start point and the end point in the geonet over a second set of lane segments of the plurality of lane segments based on a determination that the second route is an improved route compared to the first route, wherein the second set of lane segments includes a lane segment that is unassigned to the geonet; and
assigning, by the one or more computing devices, the unassigned lane segment to the geonet based on a correspondence between the unassigned lane segment and the protolane, wherein the second route is usable instead of the first route based on test and verification results of the protolane present within the geonet.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prioritizing, by the one or more computing devices, the protolane for testing based on a frequency of the protolane compared to the rest of the set of protolanes.

7. A system, comprising:
a memory; and
at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to perform operations comprising:
selecting a first lane segment of a roadway within a geonet, wherein the geonet comprises a plurality of lane segments,
determining that the first lane segment corresponds to a protolane of a set of protolanes, wherein the protolane is associated with one or more additional lane segments of the plurality of lane segments,
associating the protolane with the first lane segment based on the determination that the first lane segment corresponds to the protolane
determining a first route between a start point and an end point in the geonet over a first set of lane segments of the plurality of lane segments that are assigned to the geonet,
determining a second route between the start point and the end point in the geonet over a second set of lane segments of the plurality of lane segments based on a determination that the second route is an improved route compared to the first route, wherein the second set of lane segments includes a lane segment that is unassigned to the geonet, and
assigning the unassigned lane segment to the geonet based on a correspondence between the unassigned lane segment and the protolane, wherein the second route is usable instead of the first route based on test and verification results of the protolane present within the geonet.

8. The system of claim 7 , the operations further comprising:
selecting a second lane segment within the geonet;
creating an additional protolane that corresponds to the second lane segment, based on a determination that the second lane segment does not have a corresponding protolane within the set of protolanes; and
including the additional protolane in the set of protolanes.

9. The system of claim 7 , the operations further comprising:
clustering the plurality of lane segments based on a set of features; and
creating the protolane of the set of protolanes based on a feature of the set of features corresponding to a cluster of the plurality of lane segments.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the set of features comprises a lane segment feature that is exclusionary.

11. The system of claim 7 , the operations further comprising:
determining a route between the start point in the geonet and the end point in an additional geonet, wherein the route includes lane segments that are unassigned to the geonet or the additional geonet; and
assigning the unassigned lane segments to the geonet or the additional geonet based on a correspondence between the unassigned lane segments to respective protolanes of the set of protolanes that are present within the geonet or the additional geonet respectively.

12. The system of claim 7 , the operations further comprising:
prioritizing the protolane for testing based on a frequency of the protolane compared to the rest of the set of protolanes.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computing device, cause the at least one computing device to perform operations comprising:
selecting a first lane segment of a roadway within a geonet, wherein the geonet comprises a plurality of lane segments;
determining that the first lane segment corresponds to a protolane of a set of protolanes, wherein the protolane is associated with one or more additional lane segments of the plurality of lane segments; and
associating the protolane with the first lane segment based on the determination that the first lane segment corresponds to the protolane;
determining a route between a start point in the geonet and an end point in an additional geonet, wherein the route includes lane segments that are unassigned to the geonet or the additional geonet; and
assigning the unassigned lane segments to the geonet or the additional geonet based on a correspondence between the unassigned lane segments to respective protolanes of the set of protolanes that are present within the geonet or the additional geonet respectively.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
selecting a second lane segment within the geonet;
creating an additional protolane that corresponds to the second lane segment, based on a determination that the second lane segment does not have a corresponding protolan

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Carr George Peter Kenneth
• Hartnett Andrew
• Popov Nikolai
• Browning Brett
• Rander Peter W
• Pacilio Michael

Classifications

• B60W2420/403

  Image sensing, e.g. optical camera · CPC title

• B60W2554/4045

  Intention, e.g. lane change or imminent movement · CPC title

• B60W2552/53

  Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk · CPC title

• B60W2554/4046

  Behavior, e.g. aggressive or erratic · CPC title

• B60W40/09

  Driving style or behaviour · CPC title