Adaptive autonomous vehicle planner logic

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9910441-B2
Application number	US-201514756992-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2015
Priority date	Nov 4, 2015
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous vehicles and associated mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware, computer software and systems, and wired and wireless network communications to provide an autonomous vehicle fleet as a service. More specifically, systems, devices, and methods are configured to generate trajectories to influence navigation of autonomous vehicles. In particular, a method may include receiving path data to navigate from a first geographic location to a second geographic location, generating data representing a trajectory with which to control motion of the autonomous vehicle based on the path data, generating data representing a contingent trajectory, monitoring generation of the trajectory, and implementing the contingent trajectory subsequent to an absence of the trajectory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving path data with which to guide motion of an autonomous vehicle from a first geographic location to a second geographic location;
receiving perception data from a perception engine, the perception data comprising static map data, current object state data, and predicted object state data;
receiving, from a localizer, local pose data of the autonomous vehicle;
substantially simultaneously generating at least a plurality of trajectories and a plurality of contingent trajectories based, at least in part, on the path data, the local pose data, the static map data, the current object state data, and the predicted object state data;
selecting a trajectory from the plurality of trajectories to use to control one or more vehicle components;
selecting a contingent trajectory from the plurality of contingent trajectories to use to control the one or more vehicle components;
controlling the one or more vehicle components of the autonomous vehicle according to the trajectory to direct motion of the autonomous vehicle along the trajectory;
monitoring generation of the trajectory;
detecting cessation of the generation of the trajectory; and
responsive to detecting the cessation of the generation of the trajectory, controlling the one or more vehicle components according to the contingent trajectory.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating one or more commands to control motion of the autonomous vehicle, wherein controlling motion of the autonomous vehicle according to the contingent trajectory includes causing the autonomous vehicle to execute the commands to perform a safe-stop maneuver to a geolocation based on the contingent trajectory.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a subset of sensor data; and
responsive to receiving the subset of sensor data, controlling the one or more vehicle components according to the contingent trajectory,
wherein one or more of the static map data, the current object state data, the local pose data, or the predicted object state data is based, at least in part, on the subset of sensor data, and
the subset of sensor data comprises one or more of lidar data, radar data, or sonar data.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
generating the plurality of trajectories includes calculating the plurality of trajectories based at least in part on the path data, the local pose data, the static map data, the current object state data, and the predicted object state data; and
generating the plurality of contingent trajectories includes calculating the plurality of contingent trajectories based at least in part on the path data, the local pose data, the static map data, the current object state data, and the predicted object state data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the at least the plurality of trajectories and the plurality of contingent trajectories further comprises:
iteratively generating a group of trajectories at multiple autonomous vehicle controllers, the group of trajectories including the trajectory; and
iteratively generating a group of contingent trajectories at the multiple autonomous vehicle controllers, the group of contingent trajectories including the contingent trajectory.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the one or more vehicle components according to the contingent trajectory comprises:
transmitting control signals to the one or more vehicle components to effect a safe-stop of the autonomous vehicle, wherein
the control signals are determined based on a receding horizon.

7. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:
determining a confidence level, the confidence level indicative of an ability of the autonomous vehicle to traverse a path;
transmitting, based on the confidence level, a message to a teleoperator; and
receiving a command from a teleoperator to control the autonomous vehicle according to the contingent trajectory;
wherein the perception data comprises one or more dynamic objects and one or more static objects.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving sensor data as probabilistic distributions;
forming the perception data associated with an external object based on the probabilistic distributions; and
inferring a characteristic value associated with the external object to form an inferred characteristic value,
wherein generating the at least the plurality of trajectories and the plurality of contingent trajectories is further based on the inferred characteristic value.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the trajectory comprises:
classifying subsets of input data including the path data as subsets of action to form classified subsets of data; and
identifying a subset of trajectories including the trajectory based on the classified subsets of data.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the cessation of the generation of the trajectory includes detecting data indicative of inoperable logic of a planner module of the autonomous vehicle.

11. A system comprising:
one or more vehicle components of an autonomous vehicle for controlling motion of the autonomous vehicle;
one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more vehicle components;
a localizer;
a perception engine;
a trajectory tracker; and
a memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors and that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the system to perform operations including:
receiving path data with which to guide motion of the autonomous vehicle from a first geographic location to a second geographic location;
receiving local pose data from the localizer;
receiving an object, a current object track, and a predicted object track from the perception engine;
substantially simultaneously generating at least a plurality of candidate trajectories and a plurality of candidate contingent trajectories based, at least in part, on the path data, the local pose data, the object, the current object track, and the predicted object track, the plurality of candidate trajectories and the plurality of candidate contingent trajectories being generated as the autonomous vehicle traverses a path;
selecting, by the trajectory tracker, a trajectory from the plurality of candidate trajectories;
selecting, by the trajectory tracker, a contingent trajectory from the plurality of candidate contingent trajectories;
controlling, by the trajectory tracker, the one or more vehicle components to direct motion of the autonomous vehicle according to the trajectory;
monitoring, by the trajectory tracker, generation of the trajectory;
detecting, by the trajectory tracker, an impairment in the generation of the trajectory; and
responsive to detecting the impairment of the generation of the trajectory, controlling, by the trajectory tracker, the one or more vehicle components to direct motion of the autonomous vehicle according to the contingent trajectory.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
one or more trajectory trackers, the one or more trajectory trackers configured to:
monitor the generation of the trajectory;
detect the impairment of the generation of the trajectory; and
transmit the contingent trajectory to the one or more vehicle components of the autonomous vehicle to control motion of the autonomous vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting a message to a teleoperator; and
receiving a response from the teleoperator, at least one of the one or more trajectory trackers being configured to receive one or more of lidar data, radar data, or

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Levinson Jesse Sol
• Sibley Gabriel Thurston
• Kentley Klay Timothy David

Classifications

• G01C21/34

  Route searching; Route guidance · CPC title

• G01S13/87

  Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar · CPC title

• G01S2013/9316

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

• G01S17/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G01S7/4972

  Alignment of sensor · CPC title