Managing work area reservations for autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020032484-A1
Application number	US-201816046041-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 26, 2018
Priority date	Jul 26, 2018
Publication date	Jan 30, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

System and methods for managing work area reservations are disclosed. A system may receive an indication of a work area to be reserved for an autonomous operation of the autonomous vehicle; broadcast a request to reserve the work area for the autonomous vehicle; determine whether a communication, that indicates a reservation conflict for the work area, has been received; selectively reserve the work area and instructing one or more controllers of the autonomous vehicle to perform the autonomous operation in the work area based on determining whether the communication has been received by the autonomous vehicle; and broadcast, during the autonomous operation, one or more signals identifying the work area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of managing autonomous vehicle work area reservations performed by an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
determining a work area to be reserved for an autonomous operation of the autonomous vehicle; broadcasting a request to reserve the work area for the autonomous vehicle; determining whether a communication, that indicates a reservation conflict for the work area, has been received by the autonomous vehicle; selectively reserving the work area and performing the autonomous operation in the work area based on determining whether the communication has been received by the autonomous vehicle; broadcasting, during the autonomous operation, one or more signals identifying the work area; determining that the autonomous operation has been completed; and stopping the broadcasting of the one or more signals identifying the work area based on determining that the autonomous operation has been completed.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a conflict for the work area based on receiving the communication prior to reserving the work area, receiving the communication during the autonomous operation, or sensing an intruding object in the work area during the autonomous operation.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a conflict for the work area; determining an expected amount of time that an intruding vehicle is to be present in the work area based on detecting the conflict; and selectively waiting for the intruding vehicle to exit the work area, requesting the intruding vehicle to exit the work area, or negotiating a modification to one or more work areas or work schedules associated with the one or more work areas based on the expected amount of time.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a conflict for the work area; determining an intruding work area associated with an intruding vehicle present in the work area or for which at least a portion of the work area is reserved; and reducing a size of the work area based on the intruding work area.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a conflict for the work area; and negotiating a work area modification with an intruding vehicle present in the work area or for which at least a portion of the work area is reserved.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the work area modification includes at least one of:
a modification to a size of the work area of the autonomous vehicle, a modification to a size of an intruding work area associated with the intruding vehicle, a modification to a work schedule of the autonomous vehicle in connection with the work area, or a modification to a work schedule of the intruding vehicle in connection with the intruding work area.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a conflict with an intruding vehicle for the work area; and requesting operator input to resolve the conflict based on a determination that a negotiation with the intruding vehicle failed to resolve the conflict.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the work area is defined by a set of geographic coordinates, and
wherein performing the autonomous operation comprises moving within a boundary defined by the set of geographic coordinates.

9 . A system, included in an autonomous vehicle, for managing work area reservations of the autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a wireless communication component; and one or more processors, operatively coupled to the wireless communication component, wherein the wireless communication component and the one or more processors are configured to:
receive an indication of a work area to be reserved for an autonomous operation of the autonomous vehicle;
broadcast a request to reserve the work area for the autonomous vehicle;
determine whether a communication, that indicates a reservation conflict for the work area, has been received;
selectively reserve the work area and instructing one or more controllers of the autonomous vehicle to perform the autonomous operation in the work area based on determining whether the communication has been received by the autonomous vehicle; and
broadcast, during the autonomous operation, one or more signals identifying the work area.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the wireless communication component and the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine that the autonomous operation has been completed; and stop broadcasting the one or more signals identifying the work area based on determining that the autonomous operation has been completed.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the wireless communication component and the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect a conflict with an intruding vehicle for the work area; and prioritize the autonomous operation of the autonomous vehicle or an intruding operation of the intruding vehicle for the work area based on at least one of:
an order in which the autonomous operation and the intruding operation are to be performed,
a vehicle type of the autonomous vehicle or the intruding vehicle,
a size of the autonomous vehicle or the intruding vehicle,
a speed of the autonomous vehicle or the intruding vehicle, or
an expected amount of time that the autonomous vehicle or the intruding vehicle is to be present in the work area.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the wireless communication component and the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect a conflict with an intruding vehicle for the work area; and selectively wait to perform the autonomous operation until the intruding vehicle exits the work area or negotiate one or more work area modifications based on at least one of:
an expected amount of time that the intruding vehicle is to be present in the work area, or
a size of an intruding work area associated with the intruding vehicle.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the wireless communication component and the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect a conflict with an intruding vehicle for the work area; transmit a request to the intruding vehicle to exit the work area based on detecting the conflict; determine that the intruding vehicle has rejected the request or that the intruding vehicle has not exited the work area after a threshold amount of time has elapsed since the request was transmitted; and negotiate one or more work area modifications with the intruding vehicle based on determining that the intruding vehicle has rejected the request or that the intruding vehicle has not exited the work area after the threshold amount of time has elapsed since the request was transmitted.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the wireless communication component and the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect a conflict with an intruding vehicle for the work area; and negotiate a first modification to the work area of the autonomous vehicle and a second modification to an intruding work area associated with the intruding vehicle based on detecting the conflict.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the first modification and the second modification are determined based on at least one of:
a boundary of the work area, a boundary of the intruding work area, an overlap between the work area and the intruding work area, a work schedule of the autonomous vehicle with respect to the work area, or a work schedule of the intruding vehicle with respect to the work area.

16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the request is transmitted via at least

Assignees

• Caterpillar Paving Products Inc

Inventors

• O'Donnell Timothy

Classifications

• B60W50/0098 Primary

  Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• E02F9/2054 Primary

  Fleet management · CPC title

• E02F9/205

  Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles (E02F3/8866 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G05D2201/0202

  Physics · mapped topic

• 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