Sensor trajectory planning for a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9880561-B2
Application number	US-201615178120-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 9, 2016
Priority date	Jun 9, 2016
Publication date	Jan 30, 2018
Grant date	Jan 30, 2018

Abstract

An example system includes a vehicle and a sensor connected to the vehicle. The system may receive a predetermined path for the vehicle to follow. The system may also receive a plurality of objectives, associated with a corresponding set of sensor data, for which to collect sensor data. The system may determine, for each of the plurality of objectives, a portion of the environment for the sensor to scan to acquire the corresponding set of sensor data. The system may determine, based on the portion of the environment determined for each of the plurality of objectives, a sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor. The system may cause the sensor to move through the determined sensor trajectory and scan portions of the environment corresponding to the determined sensor trajectory as the vehicle moves along the predetermined path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a vehicle;
a sensor connected to the vehicle, wherein the sensor is configured to move with respect to the vehicle to control a portion of an environment observable by the sensor; and
a control system configured to:
receive a predetermined path for the vehicle to follow;
receive a plurality of objectives for which to collect sensor data as the vehicle moves along the predetermined path, wherein each of the plurality of objectives is associated with a corresponding set of sensor data;
determine, for each of the plurality of objectives, at least one portion of the environment for the sensor to scan to acquire the corresponding set of sensor data;
determine, based on the at least one portion of the environment determined for each of the plurality of objectives, a sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle while the vehicle moves along the predetermined path; and
provide instructions to cause the sensor to move through the determined sensor trajectory and scan portions of the environment corresponding to the determined sensor trajectory as the vehicle moves along the predetermined path.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
determine a plurality of priority levels corresponding to the plurality of objectives; and
determine, based on (i) the at least one portion of the environment determined for each of the plurality of objectives and (ii) the determined plurality of priority levels, the sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle while the vehicle moves along the predetermined path.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
determine, for each of the plurality of objectives, a cost associated with scanning the at least one determined portion of the environment based on a position of the at least one determined portion of the environment within the environment;
determine an overall cost function for the plurality of objectives based on the cost determined for each of the plurality of objectives; and
determine the sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle by determining a sensor trajectory that minimizes the overall cost function.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the cost associated with scanning the at least one determined portion of the environment is an amount of time to move the sensor from a current sensor position to a sensor position corresponding to the at least one determined portion of the environment.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
determine, for one or more of the portions of the environment corresponding to the determined sensor trajectory, a minimum scan resolution;
modulate a speed with which the sensor moves along the determined sensor trajectory based on the determined minimum scan resolution for the one or more of the portions of the environment corresponding to the determined sensor trajectory.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
determine, for one or more of the portions of the environment corresponding to the determined sensor trajectory, a minimum scan resolution; and
modulate a speed with which the vehicle moves along the predetermined path based on the determined minimum scan resolution for the one or more of the portions of the environment corresponding to the determined sensor trajectory.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to:
determine, for a particular objective of the plurality of objectives, the at least one portion of the environment for the sensor to scan in order to acquire the corresponding set of sensor data by determining an expected position of an object within the environment, wherein scanning a portion of the environment corresponding to the expected position provides the corresponding set of sensor data associated with the particular objective; and
determine the sensor trajectory by determining a range of angular positions of the sensor, wherein an extent of a field of view of the sensor intersects the expected position of the object when an angular position of the sensor is within the determined range of angular positions of the sensor.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle while the vehicle moves along the predetermined path by:
determining an objective function indicative of at least one parameter associated with the plurality of objectives;
determining a plurality of candidate sensor trajectories through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle while the vehicle moves along the predetermined path; and
selecting a sensor trajectory from the plurality of candidate sensor trajectories that maximizes the determined objective function.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the objective function indicates a number of distinct features in the environment observable by the sensor while moving along the determined sensor trajectory.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle while the vehicle moves along the predetermined path by:
determining a plurality of candidate sensor trajectories between (i) a sensor position corresponding to a start of the predetermined path and (ii) a plurality of candidate sensor positions corresponding to an end of the predetermined path;
for each respective candidate sensor trajectory of the plurality of candidate sensor trajectories, determining a set of portions of the environment observable by the sensor along the respective candidate sensor trajectory; and
selecting a sensor trajectory from the plurality of candidate sensor trajectories based on (i) the determined set of portions of the environment associated with each of the plurality of candidate sensor trajectories and (ii) the at least one portion of the environment determined for each of the plurality of objectives.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the plurality of candidate sensor trajectories by:
determining a plurality of time points along the predetermined path, wherein each time point of the plurality of time points corresponds to a different position of the vehicle along the predetermined path;
for each time point of the plurality of time points, determining a plurality of candidate angular positions of the sensor based on (i) a maximum rotational velocity of the sensor and (ii) an angular position of the sensor at a prior time point; and
determining a plurality of sequences of the candidate angular positions of the sensor between (i) a time point corresponding to a start of the predetermined path and (ii) a time point corresponding to an end of the predetermined path, wherein the plurality of candidate sensor trajectories comprise the determined plurality of sequences of the candidate angular positions of the sensor.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is configured to determine a sensor trajectory through which to move the sensor with respect to the vehicle while the vehicle moves along the predetermined path by:
for each respective portion of the set of portions of the environment observable by the sensor along the respective candidate sensor trajectory, determining one or more candidate sensor parameters for scanning the respective portion of the set of portions of the environment; and
selecting a sensor trajectory from the plurality of can

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Russell Jared

Classifications

• G06V2201/06

  Recognition of objects for industrial automation · CPC title

• G05D2111/10

  Optical signals · CPC title

• G06V20/58

  Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads · CPC title

• G06V20/10

  Terrestrial scenes (scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59) · CPC title

• G06Q10/08

  Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management · CPC title