Variably controlled ground vehicle

• US 10,124,800 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Jones, Richard Donovan, Whelan, David A., Wenberg, Lynne
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwari, Maceeh
• Application Number:
  US14/292,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20150346724A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,628 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/14 Clutch pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/087 where the control system corrects or modifies a request from the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/10 Interpretation of driver requests or demands
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/16 Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa

Abstract

Method and apparatus for providing autonomous control of a vehicle. A vehicle can be manually controlled by an operator. An autonomous system can monitor the operator'"'"'s control inputs and the environment of the vehicle to determine whether the control inputs result in safe operation of the vehicle. If control inputs are not safe, then the autonomous system can modify the operator'"'"'s unsafe inputs into safe inputs. In various instances, the autonomous system can operate the vehicle without operator input. In the event an operator attempts to apply control inputs to the vehicle while the autonomous system is otherwise in control, the autonomous system can check to see whether the operator'"'"'s inputs result in safe operation of the vehicle. If the operator'"'"'s control inputs are safe, then the autonomous system can replace its autonomous commands with the operator'"'"'s commands.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling a vehicle using one or more actuators, the method comprising:

during operation of the vehicle in an autonomous operation mode, applying, using a computer processor, an autonomous operation command to the one or more actuators to direct the vehicle along a predefined path;

during the application of the autonomous operation command, monitoring for a control input from at least one inceptor for the vehicle, wherein the control input comprises at least one of a steering input, an acceleration input, and a braking input;

determining a modified command that would result when the control input is applied to the one or more actuators, wherein the modified command is different from the autonomous operation command;

determining whether the control input is within a predetermined safe range of operation; and

automatically performing a selected one of;

when the control input is within the predetermined safe range of operation, replacing the autonomous operation command with the modified command; and

when the control input is outside of the predetermined safe range of operation, preventing modification of the autonomous operation command.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to preventing modification of the autonomous operation command, providing feedback to the at least one inceptor that provides an indication of the prevented modification to the autonomous operation command.

3. A vehicle, comprising:

an inceptor;

a sensor;

a vehicle control that modifies at least one of a travel speed and direction of travel of the vehicle in response to an input to the inceptor; and

a controller programmed to;

send an autonomous operation command to the vehicle control that directs the vehicle along a predefined path; and

provide feedback through the inceptor that provides an indication of the autonomous operation command;

receive a detected aspect of an environment of the vehicle from the sensor;

determine a safe range of operation of the inceptor that corresponds to a safe range of operation of the vehicle control, wherein the determined safe range of operation of the vehicle control is based on the detected aspect of the environment;

during application of the autonomous operation command, monitor for a control input from the inceptor;

determine a modified command that would result when the control input is applied to the vehicle control, wherein the modified command differs from the autonomous operation command; and

perform, responsive to determining whether the control input is within the safe range of operation of the inceptor, a selected one of;

when the control input is outside of the safe range of operation, preventing modification of the autonomous operation command; and

when the control input is within the safe range of operation, replacing the autonomous operation command with the modified command.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the controller is further programmed to provide second feedback through the inceptor, wherein the second feedback provides an indication of the prevented modification of the autonomous operation command.

5. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the controller is further programmed to:

determine a skill level of an operator of the vehicle; and

adjust the safe range of operation of the inceptor based on the determined skill level of the operator.

6. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein determining the skill level of the operator comprises:

identifying whether the operator corresponds to a predefined operator profile having a skill level; and

determining whether the operator correctly operates the inceptor at a limit of the safe range of operation, wherein adjusting the safe range of operation comprises;

incrementally increasing the safe range of operation for the operator.

7. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein the controller determines the skill level of the operator by identifying one of a plurality of keys for the vehicle, wherein each of the plurality of keys corresponds to a designated skill level.

8. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the detected aspect of the environment comprises a detected travel lane in which the vehicle is traveling, wherein the inceptor comprises a steering control, and wherein determining a safe range of operation of the steering control comprises determining a range of steering control positions that will maintain the vehicle within the detected travel lane.

9. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the detected aspect of the environment comprises a target travel speed for the vehicle, wherein the inceptor comprises a speed control, wherein determining a safe range of operation of the speed control comprises determining a range of speed control positions that maintain the travel speed of the vehicle at the target travel speed.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the target travel speed is a posted speed limit.

11. A controller for a vehicle, comprising:

a first input configured to receive a predetermined path for the vehicle;

a second input configured to receive an inceptor command from one or more vehicle inceptors, wherein the inceptor command comprises one of a steering command, an acceleration command, and a braking command;

a first output configured to transmit a plurality of command signals to a plurality of vehicle controls;

a second output configured to provide feedback to the one or more vehicle inceptors; and

computer logic that;

determines an autonomous operation command to direct the vehicle along the predetermined path for the vehicle;

during operation of the vehicle in an autonomous operation mode, automatically transmits the autonomous operation command through the first output to direct the vehicle along the predetermined path;

provides feedback to the one or more vehicle inceptors through the second output, wherein the feedback provides an indication of the automatically transmitted autonomous operation command to the vehicle controls;

transforms the received inceptor command into a modified command signal for the plurality of vehicle controls;

upon determining that the modified command signal results in an unsafe command to the plurality of vehicle controls, prevents replacement of the autonomous operation command; and

upon determining that the modified command signal results in a safe command to the plurality of vehicle controls, replaces the autonomous operation command with the modified command signal.

12. The controller of claim 11, wherein the second output is further configured to provide a second feedback to the one or more vehicle inceptors, wherein the second feedback provides an indication of the prevented replacement of the autonomous operation command.

13. The controller of claim 11, wherein the computer logic:

receives an indication of a skill level of a vehicle operator; and

determines whether the inceptor transforms to an unsafe command, based on the indication of the skill level.

14. The controller of claim 11, wherein the controller further comprises:

a third input that provides an indication of a deviation from safe operation of the vehicle; and

a third output configured to provide feedback to the one or more vehicle inceptors;

wherein the computer logic;

determines at least one command that corrects the indicated deviation;

automatically transmits the determined at least one command to the plurality of vehicle controls; and

automatically transmits feedback to the one or more vehicle inceptors, wherein the feedback provides an indication of the automatically transmitted at least one command.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the indication of a deviation is an indication of a lane departure from a travel lane, and wherein the determined at least one command comprises a steering command to correct the lane departure.

16. The controller of claim 14, wherein the indication of a deviation is an indication of a speed departure from a target vehicle speed, and wherein the determined at least one command comprises a speed command to correct the speed departure.

17. The controller of claim 11, wherein the one or more vehicle inceptors comprises at least two of:

a steering inceptor, a throttle inceptor, and a brake inceptor.