Assistance for an autonomous vehicle using crowd-sourced responses

• US 10,168,697 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2017
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hernandez Sanchez, Ivan Dario, Paulk, Roderic, Meyer, Nathaniel
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Tuan C
• Application Number:
  US15/475,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20180284763A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/00 Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/164 Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

In one embodiment, a control center receives a credential for a responder profile associated with a responder from each responder device in a plurality of responder devices and a signal for assistance from a vehicle. The signal for assistance includes sensor data associated with the vehicle. The control center communicates the sensor data to the responder devices. The control center receives a plurality of responses. Each of the responses is received from one of the responder devices, and each response indicates a possible action to be taken by the vehicle. The control center determines, based at least in part on a response from among the plurality of received responses, an answer to the signal for assistance. The answer indicates an action to be taken by the vehicle. The control center communicates the determined answer to the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving at a control center comprising a processor and a memory, from each responder device in a plurality of responder devices, a credential for a responder profile associated with a responder;

receiving at the control center, from a vehicle, a signal for assistance, wherein the signal for assistance comprises sensor data associated with the vehicle;

communicating the sensor data from the control center to the responder devices;

receiving at the control center a plurality of responses, each of the responses being received from one of the responder devices, wherein each response indicates a possible action to be taken by the vehicle;

determining, in the control center, based at least in part on a response from among the received responses, an answer to the signal for assistance, wherein the answer indicates an action to be taken by the vehicle; and

communicating the determined answer from the control center to the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the answer comprises performing a calculation and further comprising:

receiving at the control center, feedback from the vehicle; and

updating, in the control center, based at least in part on the feedback from the vehicle, a calculation used to determine a subsequent answer.

3. The method of claim 1, Wherein determining, based at least in part on the response from the plurality of responses, the answer comprises:

calculating, in the control center, a variance for each response by comparing each response to the plurality of responses;

calculating, in the control center, based at least in. part on the variance for each response, a score for each response;

ranking, in the control center, the plurality of responses according to the score calculated for each response; and

generating, in the control center, the answer by selecting the response with the highest score.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein calculating, in the control center, based at least in part on the variance for each response, a score for each response comprises calculating, in the control center, based in part on the variance for each response and a rating for the responder associated with the responder device that communicated the response, a score for each response.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, in the control center, based at least in part on the response from among the plurality of received responses, the answer to the signal for assistance comprises generating, in the control center, the answer by selecting a response from the plurality of responses that is based at least in part on a rating for the responder associated with the responder device that communicated the response.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the rating for the responder is calculated based in part on at least one of the following characteristics:

a number of miles driven by the responder;

an amount of time driven by the responder;

a number of driving accidents caused by the responder;

a number of previous responses communicated by the responder device associated. with the responder;

experience of the responder with a zoning of an area associated with the vehicle;

experience of the responder with a vehicle category associated with the vehicle;

feedback associated with the previous responses communicated by the responder device associated with the responder;

a rating for the responder by an occupant of the vehicle; and

a relationship between the occupant and the responder.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising adjusting, in the control center, based in part on the selected response, the rating for the responder.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein adjusting, in the control center, based in part on the selected response, the rating for the responder comprises adjusting, in the control center, based in part on the selected response, the rating for the responder by an increment, wherein the increment is determined based in part on at least one of the following criteria:

a variance for the response from the responder device associated with the responder, wherein the variance for the response is calculated by comparing the response to the selected response;

feedback from the vehicle; and

a latency of the response from the responder device associated with the responder.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, in the control center, the plurality of responders from among a set of available responders.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

calculating, in the control center, a confidence level associated with the signal for assistance; and

wherein

determining, in the control center, the plurality of responders from among a set of available responders comprises determining, in the control center, the plurality of responders from among a set of available responders by selecting the plurality of responders based on the confidence level associated with the signal for assistance and a rating for each responder.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein calculating, in the control center, the confidence level associated with the signal for assistance comprises calculating, in the control center, the confidence level associated with the signal for assistance based in part on at least one of the following characteristics:

an identification of an unexpected object in an area associated with the vehicle;

an awareness level of an occupant in the driver seat in the vehicle;

a number of accidents reported in the area associated with the vehicle;

a number of objects in a predetermined proximity to the vehicle;

a zoning of the area associated with the vehicle; and

a failure of one or more sensors associated with the vehicle.

12. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:

receive, from each responder device in a plurality of responder devices, a credential for a responder profile associated with a responder;

receive, from a vehicle, a signal for assistance, wherein the signal for assistance comprises sensor data associated with the vehicle;

communicate the sensor data to the plurality of responder devices;

receive a plurality of responses, each of the responses being received from one of the responder devices, wherein each response indicates a possible action to be taken by the vehicle;

determine, based at least in part on a response from among the received responses, an answer to the signal for assistance, wherein the answer indicates an action to be taken by the vehicle; and

communicate the determined answer to the vehicle.

13. The media of claim 12, wherein determining, based at least in part on a response from the plurality of responses, an answer to the signal for assistance comprises:

calculating a variance for each response by comparing each response to the plurality of responses;

calculating based at least in part on the variance for each response, a score for each response;

ranking the plurality of responses according to the score calculated for each response; and

generating an answer by selecting the response with the highest score.

14. The media of claim 12, wherein determine, based at least in part on the response from among the plurality of received responses, an answer to the signal for assistance comprises generate an answer by selecting a response from the plurality of responses that is based at least in part on a rating for the responder associated with the responder device that communicated the response.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein the software is further operable when executed to calculate the rating for the responder based in part on at least one of the following characteristics:

a number of miles driven by the responder;

an amount of time driven by the responder;

a number of driving accidents caused by the responder;

a number of previous responses communicated by the responder device associated with the responder;

experience of the responder with a zoning of an area associated with the vehicle;

experience of the responder with a vehicle category associated with the vehicle;

feedback associated with the previous responses communicated by the responder device associated with the responder;

a rating for the responder by an occupant of the vehicle; and

a relationship between the occupant and the responder.

16. The media of claim 12, wherein the software is further operable when executed to adjust, based in part on the selected response, the rating for the responder.

17. A system comprising one or more processors and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to:

receive, from each responder device in a plurality of responder devices, a credential for a responder profile associated with a responder;

receive, from a vehicle, a signal for assistance, wherein the signal for assistance comprises sensor data associated with the vehicle;

communicate the sensor data to the plurality of responder devices;

receive a plurality of responses, each of the responses being received from one of the responder devices, wherein each response indicates a possible action to be taken by the vehicle;

determine, based at least in part on a response from among the received responses, an answer to the signal for assistance, wherein the answer indicates an action to be taken by the vehicle; and

communicate the determined answer to the vehicle.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein determining, based at least in part on a response from the plurality of responses, an answer to the signal for assistance comprises:

calculating a variance for each response by comparing each response to the plurality of responses;

calculating based at least in part on the variance for each response, a score for each response;

ranking the plurality of responses according to the score calculated for each response; and

generating an answer by selecting the response with the highest score.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein determine, based at least in part on the response from among the plurality of received responses, an answer to the signal for assistance comprises generate an answer by selecting a response from the plurality of responses that is based at least in part on a rating for the responder associated with the responder device that communicated the response.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to calculate the rating for the responder based in part on at least one of the following characteristics:

a number of miles driven by the responder;

an amount of time driven by the responder;

a number of driving accidents caused by the responder;

a number of previous responses communicated by the responder device associated with the responder;

experience of the responder with a zoning of an area associated with the vehicle;

experience of the responder with a vehicle category associated with the vehicle;

feedback associated with the previous responses communicated by the responder device associated with the responder;

a rating for the responder by an occupant of the vehicle; and

a relationship between the occupant and the responder.