Autonomous vehicle operated with guide assistance of human driven vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9494439-B1
Application number	US-201514711506-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 13, 2015
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Nov 15, 2016
Grant date	Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

Examples described herein include an autonomous vehicle that receives guide assistance from a human driven vehicle in response to a determination that the autonomous vehicle cannot progress safely on its route.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating an autonomous vehicle, the method being implemented by one or more processors of the autonomous vehicle and comprising:
performing, using the one or more processors of the autonomous vehicle, operations that include:
determining a confidence level that is indicative of an ability of the autonomous vehicle to safely progress on a planned or current route to a destination;
after determining the confidence level to be below a threshold value, identifying, from a surrounding environment, a second vehicle to guide the autonomous vehicle through at least a portion of the planned or current route; and
controlling the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle while progressing through the portion of the planned or current route.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes controlling the autonomous vehicle to follow the second vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes:
receiving, over a network from an external source, position information for the second vehicle, and
tracking the second vehicle using the position information.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes:
receiving, over the network from the external source, information that is indicative of a visual identifier of the second vehicle, and
using the information to detect the visual identifier on the second vehicle in order to track the second vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the operations also includes:
receiving instructions that identify a route to a meeting location with the second vehicle;
controlling the autonomous vehicle in driving to the meeting location; and
before identifying the second vehicle at the meeting location, controlling the autonomous vehicle in performing one or more actions based on the instructions.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the second vehicle includes:
identifying a human driven vehicle which has a destination or route that is known.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying the human driven vehicle includes identifying the second vehicle to be a human driven transport vehicle with a planned route that includes at least a first route position which overlaps or is sufficiently proximate to either (i) the autonomous vehicle, or (ii) to a location of the planned or current route of the autonomous vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes performing, on the autonomous vehicle, one or more actions to locate and track the second vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more actions include at least one of: (i) parking the autonomous vehicle on the planned or current route, (ii) controlling the autonomous vehicle in driving to a location that is not on the planned or current route to locate the second vehicle, or (iii) controlling the autonomous vehicle in driving to an alternative route to locate the second vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the second vehicle includes identifying, from the surrounding environment, a third-party vehicle that is independently driven.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the operations also includes:
generating a communication for notifying the second vehicle that the autonomous vehicle is tracking the second vehicle.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the operations also includes:
generating a record that identifies the portion of the planned or current route for which the confidence level of the autonomous vehicle is determined to be below the threshold value.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein performing the operations also includes:
updating a map of a region which includes the planned or current route based on the record, and communicating at least an updated portion of the map to a network service.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of an autonomous vehicle that stores instructions that are executable to:
cause one or more processors of the autonomous vehicle to perform operations that include:
determining a confidence level that is indicative of an ability of the autonomous vehicle to safely progress on a planned or current route to a destination;
after determining the confidence to be below a threshold value, identifying, from a surrounding environment, a second vehicle to guide the autonomous vehicle through at least a portion of the planned or current route; and
controlling the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle while progressing through the portion of the planned or current route.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes controlling the autonomous vehicle to follow the second vehicle.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes:
receiving, over a network from an external source, position information for the second vehicle, and
tracking the second vehicle using the position information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein controlling the autonomous vehicle includes:
receiving, over the network from the external source, information that is indicative of a visual identifier of the second vehicle, and
using the information to detect the visual identifier on the second vehicle in order to track the second vehicle.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein identifying the second vehicle includes:
identifying a human driven vehicle which has a destination or route that is known.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein identifying the human driven vehicle includes identifying the second vehicle to be a human driven transport vehicle with a planned route that includes at least a first route position which overlaps or is sufficiently proximate to either (i) the autonomous vehicle, or (ii) to a location of the planned or current route of the autonomous vehicle.

Assignees

• Uber Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Ross William
• Bares John
• Larose David
• Sweeney Matthew

Classifications

• G01S2013/9316

  combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations · CPC title

• G01S2013/9322

  using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data · CPC title

• G08G1/166

  for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• G01S2013/9324

  Alternative operation using ultrasonic waves · CPC title