Vehicle control and guidance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020409352-A1
Application number	US-201916457654-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 28, 2019
Priority date	Jun 28, 2019
Publication date	Dec 31, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle computing system may identify a scenario in an environment that violates an operating constraint. The vehicle computing system may request remote guidance from a guidance system of a service computing device. The vehicle computing system may receive input from the guidance system including one or more waypoints and/or associated orientations for the vehicle to navigate through the scenario. The vehicle computing system may be configured to validate the input. A validation may include processing the input to determine whether the waypoint(s) and/or orientation(s) associated therewith may cause the vehicle to violate a safety protocol. Based on a determination that the input will not cause the vehicle to violate the safety protocol, the vehicle computing system may control the vehicle according to the input, such as by causing a drive system to operate the vehicle to each waypoint at the associated orientation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle comprising:
a sensor; one or more processors; and memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the vehicle to:
determine a path for the vehicle to traverse through an environment to reach a destination;
receive sensor data from the sensor;
generate, based at least in part on the sensor data, a first trajectory for the vehicle to traverse along the path;
determine, based at least in part on the first trajectory, that the vehicle is unable to continue along the path based at least in part on one or more of an obstacle or a control policy;
transmit, to a service computing device, a request for guidance data;
receive, from the service computing device, waypoint data comprising a waypoint associated with a position and an orientation;
validate the waypoint based at least in part on a safety protocol;
based at least in part on a validation of the waypoint, determine a second trajectory for the vehicle to navigate the vehicle from an initial position and an initial vehicle orientation to the position and the orientation associated with the waypoint; and
control the vehicle based at least in part on the second trajectory.

2 . The vehicle as claim 1 recites, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:
receive a message indicating release of the service computing device as a remote guidance platform;
determine a third trajectory to control the vehicle from the waypoint along the path; and
control the vehicle based at least in part on the third trajectory.

3 . The vehicle as claim 1 recites, wherein the waypoint data comprises a first waypoint data comprising a first waypoint associated with a first position and a first orientation and wherein the instructions further configure the vehicle to:
receive, from the service computing device, second waypoint data comprising a second waypoint associated with a second position and a second orientation;
validate the second waypoint based at least in part on the safety protocol; and
based at least in part on validating the second waypoint, determine a third trajectory for the vehicle to navigate the vehicle from the first waypoint to the second waypoint; and
control the vehicle from the first waypoint to the second waypoint based at least in part on the third trajectory, wherein the vehicle is controlled from the first waypoint to the second waypoint without stopping forward motion.

4 . The vehicle as claim 1 recites, wherein the instructions further configure the vehicle to:
detect, based at least in part on the sensor data, a dynamic object in the environment;
determine an object trajectory associated with the object;
determine that the object the object trajectory will traverse within a threshold distance of the vehicle traveling on the trajectory for the vehicle; and
control the vehicle based at least in part on the object.

5 . The vehicle as claim 1 recites, wherein the instructions further configure the vehicle to:
receive second waypoint data associated with a second position and a second vehicle orientation;
determine that at least one of the second waypoint or the second vehicle orientation violates the safety protocol; and
cause the vehicle to stop at the first waypoint.

6 . A method comprising:
receiving sensor data from a sensor of a vehicle operating along a path in an environment; determining that the vehicle is unable to continue along the path based at least in part on a control policy; sending, to a service computing device, a request for guidance data, the guidance data comprising a waypoint to facilitate control of the vehicle through the scenario; receiving waypoint data associated with the waypoint from the service computing device; determining that the waypoint is a valid waypoint; and controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the waypoint.

7 . The method as claim 6 recites, further comprising:
receiving a vehicle orientation associated with the waypoint;
determining that the vehicle orientation is a valid vehicle orientation; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle orientation.

8 . The method as claim 6 recites, wherein determining that the waypoint is the valid waypoint comprises determining at least one of:
determining that the waypoint is located on a drivable surface;
determining that an operation of the vehicle navigating to the waypoint does not violate a remote guidance protocol, the remote guidance protocol comprising a limitation associated with vehicle movement while operating in a remote guidance mode; or
determining that the operation of the vehicle navigating to the waypoint does not violate a safety protocol, wherein the safety protocol comprises a condition to ensure the safety of the vehicle.

9 . The method as claim 6 recites, wherein the scenario is identified in an environment associated with the vehicle, the method further comprising:
receiving, from the service computing device, an updated route for navigating through the environment based at least in part on the scenario;
receiving a message indicating release of the service computing device as a remote guidance platform; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the updated route.

10 . The method as claim 6 recites, wherein the scenario is identified on a route associated with the vehicle, the method further comprising:
receiving, from the service computing device, a message indicating release of the service computing device as a remote guidance platform;
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the route;
identifying a second scenario on the route that violates the operating constraint;
sending, to the service computing device, a second request for guidance data;
determining a solution to the second scenario independent of input from the service computing device; and
controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the solution.

11 . The method as claim 6 recites, wherein waypoint data associated with the waypoint comprises first data associated with a first waypoint, the method further comprising:
receiving second waypoint data associated with a second position and a second vehicle orientation;
determining that at least one of the second waypoint or the corresponding vehicle orientation violates a safety protocol; and
based at least in part on determining that the second waypoint violates the safety protocol, causing the vehicle to stop at the first waypoint.

12 . The method as claim 6 recites, wherein determining that the vehicle is unable to continue along the path comprises:
determining the path for the vehicle to traverse through an environment;
generating, based at least in part on the sensor data, a trajectory for the vehicle to traverse along the path; and
determine that the trajectory violates the control policy.

13 . The method as claim 6 recites, further comprising:
receiving second waypoint data associated with a second waypoint and a corresponding vehicle orientation;
validating the second waypoint and the corresponding vehicle orientation; and
controlling the vehicle from the first waypoint to the second waypoint without stopping forward motion.

14 . The method as claim 6 recites, wherein the control policy comprises at least one of:
a traffic law or rule;
a rule of good driving; or
an obstacle in a path of the vehicle.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations c

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Caldwell Timothy
• Gogna Ravi
• Goldman Meredith James
• Ramirez Frank Reinaldo
• Young Matthew Miller
• Zhang Rick

Classifications

• G06F9/451 Primary

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title

• B60W2050/146

  Display means · CPC title

• G06F3/0481

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title

• B60W50/10

  Interpretation of driver requests or demands · CPC title

• G05D1/0274

  using mapping information stored in a memory device (navigation using map-matching G01C21/30) · CPC title