Parking for self-driving car

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9919704-B1
Application number	US-201715418107-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jan 27, 2017
Priority date	Jan 27, 2017
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

A self-driving car includes a vehicle body; wheels mounted on the vehicle body for moving the car; brakes mounted on the vehicle body for stopping the wheels; a steering apparatus connected between the vehicle body and at least some of the wheels for steering the wheels; sensors configured to detect environmental parameters; and a processor that is configured to facilitate at least an autonomous parking module for controlling the wheels, brakes, and steering apparatus. The processor is further configured as part of the autonomous parking module to scan the surroundings of the self-driving car, using at least one of the sensors, in order to detect a road hazard proximate a door of the self-driving car.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
facilitating an autonomous parking module of a self-driving car;
facilitating a road hazard identification module that scans the surroundings of the self-driving car, using at least one sensor of the self-driving car, to identify a road hazard proximate a door of the self-driving car; and
ameliorating the road hazard by adjusting the autonomous parking module to reposition the self-driving car in order to offset the door of the self-driving car from the road hazard.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein ameliorating the road hazard further comprises:
facilitating a planning module that detects at least one parameter of a vehicle occupant; and
selecting an action to ameliorate the road hazard, in response to the at least one parameter of the vehicle occupant.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one parameter of the vehicle occupant includes apparel of the vehicle occupant.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising receiving an RFID signal from the apparel of the vehicle occupant.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one parameter of the vehicle occupant includes health of the vehicle occupant.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one parameter of the vehicle occupant includes pregnancy of the vehicle occupant.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one parameter of the vehicle occupant includes a schedule of the vehicle occupant.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising determining the schedule by accessing an electronic calendar.

9. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one parameter of the vehicle occupant is detected through voice recognition.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein ameliorating the road hazard further includes constructing a cost function to identify an optimal ameliorating action.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein ameliorating the road hazard further includes issuing an audio, visual, or tactile warning to a vehicle occupant.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the road hazard includes analyzing image data using a deep neural net.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein scanning the surroundings is done from outside the body of the self-driving car.

14. A self-driving car comprising:
a vehicle body;
wheels mounted on the vehicle body for moving the car;
brakes mounted on the vehicle body for stopping the wheels;
a steering apparatus connected between the vehicle body and at least some of the wheels for steering the wheels;
sensors configured to detect environmental parameters; and
a processor that is configured to facilitate at least an autonomous parking module for controlling the wheels, brakes, and steering apparatus,
wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate a road hazard identification module that scans the surroundings of the self-driving car, using at least one of the sensors, in order to detect a road hazard proximate a door of the self-driving car, and to facilitate a planning module for ameliorating the road hazard, wherein ameliorating the road hazard includes repositioning the self-driving car to offset the door of the self-driving car from the road hazard.

15. The self-driving car of claim 14 wherein ameliorating the road hazard includes issuing a warning to a vehicle occupant.

16. The self-driving car of claim 14 , wherein at least one of the sensors is disposed adjacent a door of the car.

17. A self-driving car comprising:
a vehicle body;
wheels mounted on the vehicle body for moving the car;
brakes mounted on the vehicle body for stopping the wheels;
a steering apparatus connected between the vehicle body and at least some of the wheels for steering the wheels;
sensors configured to detect environmental parameters;
a bridge or ramp mounted adjacent a door of the self-driving car; and
a processor that is configured to facilitate at least an autonomous parking module for controlling the wheels, brakes, and steering apparatus,
wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate a road hazard identification module that scans the surroundings of the self-driving car, using at least one of the sensors, in order to detect a road hazard proximate the door of the self-driving car, and to facilitate a planning module for ameliorating the road hazard, wherein ameliorating the road hazard includes activating the bridge or ramp to span the road hazard from the door of the car.

18. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions which when executed by a computer cause the computer to:
facilitate an autonomous parking module of a self-driving car;
facilitate a road hazard identification module that scans the surroundings of the self-driving car, using at least one sensor of the self-driving car, to identify a road hazard proximate a door of the self-driving car; and
facilitate ameliorating the road hazard by adjusting the autonomous parking module to reposition the self-driving car in order to offset the door of the self-driving car from the road hazard.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Kundu Ashish
• Pickover Clifford A
• Vukovic Maja
• Weldemariam Komminist

Classifications

• B60W2540/221

  Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs · CPC title

• B60W2040/0872

  Driver physiology · CPC title

• B60W50/14

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title

• H04N13/239

  using two two-dimensional [2D] image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance (H04N13/243 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60W2552/00

  Input parameters relating to infrastructure · CPC title