Environmental state detection by observing road vehicle behaviors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023399010-A1
Application number	US-202217836429-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 9, 2022
Priority date	Jun 9, 2022
Publication date	Dec 14, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle and a system and method for operating the vehicle. The system includes a sensor and a processor. The sensor is configured to obtain raw data of a road actor in an environment. The processor is configured to determine a current behavior of the road actor from the raw data, wherein the current behavior is in response to an environmental state, determine the environmental state based on the current behavior of the road actor, plan a driving policy for the vehicle based on the environmental state, and actuate a movement of the vehicle according to the driving policy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of operating a vehicle, comprising:
detecting a current behavior of a road actor in response to an environmental state; determining the environmental state based on the current behavior of the road actor; planning a driving policy for the vehicle based on the environmental state; and actuating a movement of the vehicle according to the driving policy.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental state further comprises at least one of: (i) an unknown road condition; (ii) road construction; (iii) a traffic signal malfunction; (iv) a stalled vehicle; (v) an obstruction in the road; (vi) a weakly controlled or uncontrolled road intersection; and (vii) a newly changed road condition.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining raw data of the road actor, determining a feature for the road actor from the raw data, and determining the current behavior from the feature.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the feature of the road actor is at least one of: (i) a deceleration; (ii) an acceleration; (iii) a stopped motion; (iv) an initiated motion; (v) a deviation from a lane; and (vi) a turn maneuver.

5 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining the behavior from a location of the feature within at least one of a temporal and a spatial sequence.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the environmental state using at least one of: (i) a Bayesian inference algorithm; and (ii) a tree diagram.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating a model for vehicle behavior, identifying a parameter of the model for an expected behavior of the road actor under a normal environmental state, and detecting a difference between the current behavior and the expected behavior to determine the environmental state from a comparison of the parameter of the model to the parameter for the current behavior.

8 . A system for navigating an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a sensor configured to obtain raw data of a road actor in an environment; and a processor configured to:
determine a current behavior of the road actor from the raw data, wherein the current behavior is in response to an environmental state;
determine the environmental state based on the current behavior of the road actor;
plan a driving policy for the vehicle based on the environmental state; and
actuate a movement of the vehicle according to the driving policy.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the environmental state further comprises at least one of: (i) a road condition; (ii) road construction; (iii) a traffic signal malfunction; (iv) a stalled vehicle; (v) an obstruction in the road; (vi) a weakly controlled or uncontrolled road intersection; and (vii) a newly changed road condition.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a feature for the road actor from the raw data and determine the current behavior from the feature.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the feature of the road actor is at least one of: (i) a deceleration; (ii) an acceleration; (iii) a stopped motion; (iv) an initiated motion; (v) a deviation from a lane; and (vi) a turn maneuver.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the behavior from a location of the feature within at least one of a temporal and a spatial sequence.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the environmental state using at least one of: (i) a Bayesian inference algorithm; and (ii) a tree diagram.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to create a model for vehicle behavior, identify a parameter of the model for an expected behavior of the road actor under a normal environmental state, and detect a difference between the current behavior and the expected behavior to determine the environmental state from a comparison of the parameter of the model to the parameter for the current behavior.

15 . A vehicle, comprising:
a sensor configured to obtain raw data of a road actor in an environment; and a processor configured to:
determine a current behavior of the road actor from the raw data, wherein the current behavior is in response to an environmental state;
determine the environmental state based on the current behavior of the road actor;
plan a driving policy for the vehicle based on the environmental state; and
actuate a movement of the vehicle according to the driving policy.

16 . The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the environmental state further comprises at least one of: (i) a road condition; (ii) road construction; (iii) a traffic signal malfunction; (iv) a stalled vehicle; (v) an obstruction in the road; (vi) a weakly controlled or uncontrolled road intersection; and (vii) a newly changed road condition.

17 . The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a feature for the road actor from the raw data and determine the current behavior from the feature.

18 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the behavior from a location of the feature within at least one of a temporal sequence and a spatial sequence.

19 . The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the environmental state using at least one of: (i) a Bayesian inference algorithm; and (ii) a tree diagram.

20 . The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to create a model for vehicle behavior, identify a parameter of the model for an expected behavior of the road actor under a normal environmental state, and detect a difference between the current behavior and the expected behavior to determine the environmental state from a comparison of the parameter of the model to the parameter for the current behavior.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Salehi Rasoul
• Saraf Ofer
• Lin Wen-Chiao

Classifications

• B60W60/001 Primary

  Planning or execution of driving tasks · CPC title

• B60W40/04 Primary

  Traffic conditions · CPC title

• B60W40/06

  Road conditions · CPC title

• B60W2554/4046

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

• B60W60/0027

  using trajectory prediction for other traffic participants · CPC title