Lane assignments for autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9547986-B1
Application number	US-201514945555-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 19, 2015
Priority date	Nov 19, 2015
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for coordination of autonomous vehicles in a roadway. A roadway management system can generate lane configurations for a roadway or a portion of the roadway. The roadway management system can determine the direction of travel for lanes in a roadway and direct autonomous automobiles to enter the roadway in a particular lane.

First claim

Therefore, the following is claimed:

1. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of sensors configured to detect environmental information associated with the autonomous vehicle;
a communications interface configured to facilitate communication with a roadway management system;
a controller configured to control operation of the autonomous vehicle, the controller being configured to cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:
detect environmental information associated with the autonomous vehicle, the environmental information comprising a location of the autonomous vehicle, a velocity of the autonomous vehicle, an orientation of the autonomous vehicle, and a status of surroundings of the autonomous vehicle;
generate a request to use a portion of a roadway, the request identifying a destination associated with the autonomous vehicle and including the environmental information;
transmit the request to the roadway management system using the communications interface, the roadway management system monitoring a status of a plurality of autonomous vehicles using the portion of the roadway and assigning usage of the portion of the roadway to the plurality of autonomous vehicles;
obtain a roadway assignment from the roadway management system, the roadway assignment comprising a lane identifier, a lane assignment, and a velocity assignment; and
generate a routing instruction for the autonomous vehicle to enter the portion of the roadway according to the roadway assignment.

2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the lane assignment comprises a direction of travel in a respective lane of the portion of the roadway.

3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the destination associated with the autonomous vehicle comprises at least one of a destination location or a request to park the autonomous vehicle within the portion of the roadway.

4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises a priority associated with the autonomous vehicle.

5. A system, comprising:
at least one computing device;
a wireless communications interface facilitating communication with a plurality of autonomous vehicles;
a plurality of roadway sensors in communication with the at least one computing device;
at least one application executed in the at least one computing device, the at least one application being configured to cause the at least one computing device to perform a method comprising:
obtaining, via the plurality of roadway sensors, a roadway status associated with a portion of a roadway;
obtaining, via the wireless communications interface, a request from an autonomous vehicle from the plurality of autonomous vehicles to use the portion of the roadway;
generating, based upon the roadway status and the request from the autonomous vehicle, a lane configuration for a plurality of lanes for the portion of the roadway;
generating, based upon an outcome directive associated with the portion of the roadway, a roadway assignment for the autonomous vehicle taking into account parameters of the request and the roadway status; and
transmitting, via the wireless communications interface, the roadway assignment to the autonomous vehicle.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of roadway sensors comprise at least one image capture device configured to capture imagery of the portion of the roadway.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein generating the roadway assignment for the autonomous vehicle is further based upon a cost function associated with the roadway, the cost function associated with the roadway based upon at least one of: a number of lanes in the portion of the roadway, a speed limit associated with the portion of the roadway, a quantity of autonomous vehicles in the portion of the roadway, or a throughput metric associated with the portion of the roadway.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the roadway assignment for the autonomous vehicle is based upon vehicle data associated with the autonomous vehicle, the vehicle data comprising at least one of: a number of occupants of the autonomous vehicle, an efficiency of the autonomous vehicle, a timestamp associated with the request, a cost per mile associated with the autonomous vehicle, or a cost associated with the request to use the portion of the roadway.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein generating the roadway assignment for the autonomous vehicle further comprises:
generating a lane assignment from among the plurality of lanes for the autonomous vehicle, the lane assignment corresponding to a lane having a lane configuration consistent with a destination associated with the request to use the portion of the roadway, the lane assignment based at least upon a number of autonomous vehicles requesting to travel in a direction corresponding to the autonomous vehicle through the portion of the roadway; and
determining a time and velocity associated with the lane assignment based upon the number of autonomous vehicles requesting to travel in the direction corresponding to the autonomous vehicle.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein generating the lane configuration for the plurality of lanes of the portion of the roadway further comprises specifying a direction of travel for each of the plurality of lanes based upon the roadway status, a quantity of the plurality of autonomous vehicles in the portion of the roadway, and the request from the autonomous vehicle.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one application is further configured to cause the at least one computing device to perform the method further comprising reversing a direction of travel for a respective one of the plurality of lanes based upon at least one of: a time of day and traffic conditions associated with the portion of the roadway.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one application is further configured to cause the at least one computing device to perform the method further comprising modifying another roadway assignment of another autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles in response to receiving the request to use the portion of the roadway, wherein modifying the roadway assignment comprises generating an instruction to change from a first lane to a second lane of the plurality of lanes.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the other roadway assignment of the other autonomous vehicle is modified in response to a determination that a priority of the request to use the roadway associated with the autonomous vehicle is a higher priority than a respective priority of the other autonomous vehicle.

14. The system of claim 5 , wherein the outcome directive comprises maximizing a number of autonomous vehicles or an average velocity of autonomous vehicles traveling through the portion of the roadway over a period of time.

15. The system of claim 5 , wherein the outcome directive comprises maximizing a revenue metric associated with the portion of the roadway over a period of time.

16. The system of claim 5 , wherein the lane configuration comprises at least one of: a parking lane configuration, a direction of travel in a first direction, a direction of travel in a second direction, a width of a respective lane of the portion of the roadway, or an emergency lane configuration.

17. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of sensors configured to detect environmental conditions associated with the autonomous vehicle;
a communications interface facilitating communication over a network;
a controller configured to control the autonomous vehicle, the controller further configured to perform a meth

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Curlander James Christopher
• Russell Ryan Scott
• Bathurst Allan Scott
• Madan Udit
• Graybill Jules Cook
• Norwood Jonathan Blair
• Lauka Wesley Scott
• Mishra Pragyana K
• Canavor Darren Ernest

Classifications

• G08G1/096741

  where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle · CPC title

• G08G1/143

  inside the vehicles · CPC title

• G08G1/096725

  where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control · CPC title

• G08G1/09 Primary

  Arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions ({railroad crossing signals B61L; reflectors E01F, G08B}; indicating arrangements for variable information by selection or combination of individual elements G09F9/00) · CPC title

• G08G1/04

  using optical or ultrasonic detectors · CPC title