Generating state information for autonomous vehicles

• US 10,048,700 B1
• Filed: 12/01/2015
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Curlander, James Christopher, Mishra, Pragyana K., Russell, Ryan Scott, Siegel, Hilliard Bruce, Canavor, Darren Ernest, Lauka, Wesley Scott, Tappen, Marshall Friend, Graybill, Jules Cook, Madan, Udit, Parker, Erik Resch, Norwood, Jonathan Blair, Bathurst, Allan Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Oh, Harry Y
• Application Number:
  US14/955,573
• Time in Patent Office: 987 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0116 from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0145 for active traffic flow control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/164 Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for obtaining environmental data and operational data from autonomous vehicles in a roadway. A vehicle state of the autonomous vehicles can be updated using data that is obtained from nearby vehicles or other vehicles that are on the roadway. The roadway management system can also generate updates to the vehicle state based upon data obtained from sources external to autonomous vehicles.

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of sensors configured to detect environmental data and operational data associated with the autonomous vehicle, the plurality of sensors comprising at least one camera and a location detection system, the environmental data associated with surroundings of the autonomous vehicle and the operational data being associated with an operational health of the autonomous vehicle;

a communications interface configured to facilitate communication with a roadway management system that is configured to receive data from a plurality of autonomous vehicles and a plurality of external data sources;

a controller configured to control operation of the autonomous vehicle, the controller being configured to cause the autonomous vehicle to at least;

detect the environmental data and operational data associated with the autonomous vehicle based upon the plurality of sensors, the environmental data comprising a location of the autonomous vehicle, a velocity of the autonomous vehicle, and imagery from the at least one camera;

generate a state of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part upon the environmental data and operational data;

transmit the environmental data and operational data to the roadway management system via the communications interface;

obtain an update to the state of the autonomous vehicle from the roadway management system, the update based at least in part upon environmental data and operational data obtained from at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles in communication with the roadway management system and at least one of the plurality of external data sources associated with a roadway on which the autonomous vehicle is located;

identify a first vector associated with the autonomous vehicle from the environmental data;

identify a second vector associated with another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles from the environmental data;

determine, based upon the first vector and the second vector, whether a collision between the autonomous vehicle and the other one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is imminent;

generate a collision alert in response to a determination of an imminent collision;

generate a routing instruction for the autonomous vehicle to navigate on the roadway based at least in part upon the update to the state of the autonomous vehicle and the collision alert;

generate a request for assistance for the roadway management system based upon the environmental data and the operational data associated with the autonomous vehicle, the request comprising a type of assistance; and

transmit the request for assistance to the roadway management system, wherein the roadway management system selects another of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to direct to a current location of the autonomous vehicle based upon the type of assistance.

2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller generates an alternate route associated with a destination based upon the environmental data and operational data obtained from the at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles.

3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of external data sources comprises at least one roadway sensor in communication with the roadway management system.

4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the routing instruction is based upon at least one of a roadway condition indicated in the environmental data and the operational data obtained from the at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles or a proximity of one of the at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to 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, roadway status data associated with a portion of a roadway;

obtaining, via the wireless communications interface, environmental data and operational data from a plurality of autonomous vehicles using the portion of the roadway, the environmental data associated with respective surroundings of the plurality of autonomous vehicles and the operational data being associated with a respective operational health of the plurality of autonomous vehicles;

generating, based upon the roadway status data from at least a portion of the plurality of roadway sensors and the environmental data and operational data from at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, an update to a state associated with an autonomous vehicle using the portion of the roadway;

transmitting, via the wireless communications interface, the update to the state to the autonomous vehicle;

identifying a first vector associated with a first one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles from the environmental data;

identifying a second vector associated with a second one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles from the environmental data;

determining, based upon the first vector and the second vector, whether a collision between the first one and the second one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is imminent;

generating a collision alert in response to a determination of an imminent collision;

transmitting the collision alert to at least one of the first one or the second one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles;

identifying a road hazard based upon the environmental data and operational data, the road hazard detected by at least one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, wherein identifying the road hazard comprises determining whether a degree of wheel spin detected by the at least one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles at a particular location in the portion of the roadway exceeds a threshold;

detecting a weather condition associated with the particular location in response to detection of at least one of a temperature condition or a precipitation condition associated with the degree of wheel spin; and

generating a request to remediate the road hazard in response to identifying the road hazard, wherein the request to remediate the road hazard comprises a request to direct another of the plurality of autonomous vehicles equipped to remediate the road hazard to the particular location.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one application is configured to cause the at least one computing device to perform the method further comprising transmitting the update to the state to the at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the plurality of roadway sensors comprise at least one of a camera configured to capture imagery of the portion of the roadway or an in-road sensor associated with the portion of the roadway.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the update to the state associated with the autonomous vehicle comprises a location of at least a portion of the plurality of autonomous vehicles in the portion of the roadway.

9. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of sensors configured to detect environmental data and operational data 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 method comprising;

obtaining environmental data and operational data associated with the autonomous vehicle, the environmental data including a current location of the autonomous vehicle on a portion of a roadway and the operational data being associated with an operational health of the autonomous vehicle;

generating a state associated with the autonomous vehicle based upon the environmental data and operational data;

transmitting the environmental data and the operational data to a roadway management system associated with the portion of the roadway;

obtaining an update to the state associated with the autonomous vehicle from the roadway management system, the update based upon environmental data and operational data associated with a plurality of autonomous vehicles using the portion of the roadway;

updating the state associated with the autonomous vehicle based upon the update;

identifying a first vector associated with the autonomous vehicle from the environmental data;

identifying a second vector associated with another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles from the environmental data;

determining, based upon the first vector and the second vector, whether a collision between the autonomous vehicle and the other one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is imminent;

generating a collision alert in response to a determination of an imminent collision;

generating a request for assistance for the roadway management system based upon the environmental data and the operational data associated with the autonomous vehicle, the request comprising a type of assistance; and

transmitting the request for assistance to the roadway management system, wherein the roadway management system selects another of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to direct to the current location of the autonomous vehicle based upon the type of assistance.

10. The autonomous vehicle of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to perform the method further comprising:

generating a routing instruction for the autonomous vehicle based upon the collision alert.

11. The autonomous vehicle of claim 9, wherein the collision alert is based upon second environmental data and second operational data associated with a second autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, the second environmental data associated with surroundings of the second autonomous vehicle and the second operational data being associated with an operational health of the second autonomous vehicle.

12. The autonomous vehicle of claim 10, wherein the routing instruction generated based upon the collision alert overrides a previous routing instruction corresponding to the state associated with the autonomous vehicle.

13. The autonomous vehicle of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to perform the method further comprising:

extracting data associated with a road hazard from the update obtained from the roadway management system, wherein the update is further based upon data received from a plurality of external sensors associated with the portion of the roadway; and

generating a routing instruction for the autonomous vehicle based upon the data associated with the road hazard.

14. The autonomous vehicle of claim 13, wherein the data associated with the road hazard comprises at least one of an amount of wheel spin or an amount of suspension travel for at least one wheel of at least one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles over a specified period of time, or roadway condition data received from at least one of the plurality of external sensors associated with the portion of the roadway.