Autonomous Vehicle Collision Mitigation Systems and Methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021325902-A1
Application number	US-202117360599-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 28, 2021
Priority date	Jun 29, 2017
Publication date	Oct 21, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling an autonomous vehicle are provided. In one example embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes obtaining, from an autonomy system, data indicative of a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle through a surrounding environment. The method includes determining a region of interest in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the planned trajectory. The method includes controlling one or more first sensors to obtain data indicative of the region of interest. The method includes identifying one or more objects in the region of interest, based at least in part on the data obtained by the one or more first sensors. The method includes controlling the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more objects identified in the region of interest.

First claim

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . A vehicle, comprising:
a vehicle computing system configured to determine a trajectory of the vehicle through a surrounding environment; an event response system that is separate from the vehicle computing system, the event response system configured to:
determine a region of interest in the surrounding environment based on data indicative of the trajectory;
identify an object in the region of interest based on data indicative of the region of interest obtained by one or more sensors associated with the event response system; and
provide one or more control signals for controlling the vehicle, wherein the one or more control signals are based on the object identified in the region of interest.

22 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the trajectory of the vehicle through a surrounding environment comprises a path along which the vehicle is intending to travel.

23 . The vehicle of claim 21 , the event response system configured to:
steer the one or more sensors towards the region of interest; and control the one or more sensors steered toward the region of interest to obtain the data indicative of the region of interest.

24 . The vehicle of claim 23 , wherein steering the one or more sensors comprises adjusting a region of detection associated with the one or more sensors to overlap at least in part with of the region of interest.

25 . The vehicle of claim 23 , wherein adjusting the region of detection associated with the one or more sensors comprises physically moving the sensor using one or more actuators associated with the sensor.

26 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the one or more control signals for controlling the vehicle comprise one or more control signals for adjusting a motion of the vehicle, the motion comprising at least one of the trajectory of the vehicle or a speed of the vehicle, the trajectory of the vehicle comprising a path along which the vehicle is intending to travel.

27 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the one or more control signals for controlling the vehicle comprise providing one or more control signals to a human-machine interface system to indicate an identification of the object.

28 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the vehicle computing system is configured to control the vehicle based on the object identified in the region of interest.

29 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the vehicle comprises an autonomous truck.

30 . An event response system, comprising:
one or more processors; and one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the event response system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
obtaining, from a vehicle computing system that is separate from the event response system, data indicative of a trajectory of a vehicle through a surrounding environment;
determining a region of interest in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the trajectory;
identifying an object in the region of interest based on data indicative of the region of interest obtained by one or more sensors associated with the event response system; and
providing one or more control signals for controlling the vehicle, wherein the one or more control signals are based on the object identified in the region of interest.

31 . The event response system of claim 30 , wherein the trajectory of the vehicle through a surrounding environment comprises a path along which the vehicle is intending to travel.

32 . The event response system of claim 30 , the operations comprising:
steering the one or more sensors towards the region of interest; and controlling the one or more sensors steered toward the region of interest to obtain the data indicative of the region of interest.

33 . The event response system of claim 32 , wherein steering the one or more sensors comprises adjusting a region of detection associated with the one or more sensors to overlap at least in part with the region of interest.

34 . The event response system of claim 33 , wherein adjusting the region of detection associated with the one or more sensors comprises physically moving the one or more sensors using one or more actuators associated the one or more sensors.

35 . The event response system of claim 30 , wherein the one or more control signals for controlling the vehicle comprise one or more control signals for adjusting a motion of the vehicle, the motion comprising at least one of the trajectory of the vehicle or a speed of the vehicle, the trajectory of the vehicle comprising a path along which the vehicle is intending to travel.

36 . The event response system of claim 30 , wherein the one or more control signals for controlling the vehicle comprise providing one or more control signals to a human-machine interface system to indicate an identification of the object.

37 . The event response system of claim 30 , wherein the vehicle computing system configured to control the vehicle based on the object identified in the region of interest.

38 . The event response system of claim 30 , wherein the event response system is configured for use in an autonomous truck.

39 . A computer-implemented method for controlling a vehicle, comprising:
obtaining, from a vehicle computing system that is separate from an event response system, data indicative of a trajectory of a vehicle through a surrounding environment, the trajectory of the vehicle comprising a path along which the vehicle is intending to travel; determining, by the event response system, a region of interest in the surrounding environment based on the trajectory; identifying, by the event response system, an object in the region of interest based on data indicative of the region of interest obtained by one or more sensors associated with the event response system; and providing, by the event response system, one or more control signals for controlling a motion of the vehicle, wherein the one or more control signals are based on the object identified in the region of interest.

40 . The computer-implemented method of claim 39 , comprising:
steering, by the event response system, the one or more sensors towards the region of interest; and controlling, by the event response system, the one or more sensors steered toward the region of interest to obtain the data indicative of the region of interest.

Assignees

• Uatc Llc

Inventors

• Wood Matthew Shaw
• Leach William M
• Poeppel Scott C
• Letwin Nicholas G
• Zych Noah

Classifications

• B62D15/0265 Primary

  Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering · CPC title

• G01S15/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• B60W30/09

  Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering · CPC title

• G01S17/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• B60W2554/00

  Input parameters relating to objects · CPC title