Modifying the behavior of an autonomous vehicle using context based parameter switching

• US 10,345,810 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2017
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhu, Jiajun, Urmson, Christopher, Ferguson, David I., Fairfield, Nathaniel, Dolgov, Dmitri A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Shardul D
• Application Number:
  US15/659,071
• Time in Patent Office: 714 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/20 Static objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4029 Pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• 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: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18159 Traversing an intersection
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0016 of the vehicle or its occupants
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0231 using optical position detecting means position-fixing by using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. optical position detecting means G01S5/16
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means

Abstract

A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous mode may operate a sensor to determine an environment of the vehicle. The sensor may be configured to obtain sensor data of a sensed portion of the environment. The sensed portion may be defined by a sensor parameter. Based on the environment of the vehicle, the vehicle may select at least one parameter value for the at least one sensor parameter such that the sensed portion of the environment corresponds to a region of interest. The vehicle may operate the sensor, using the selected at least one parameter value for the at least one sensor parameter, to obtain sensor data of the region of interest, and control the vehicle in the autonomous mode based on the sensor data of the region of interest.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a sensor unit of an autonomous vehicle, information indicative of an environment of the autonomous vehicle;

determining, based on the received information, at least one environmental characteristic of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the at least one environmental characteristic comprises a location of at least one other vehicle, a direction of travel of the at least one other vehicle, and a speed of travel of the at least one other vehicle;

based on the determined environmental characteristic, determining a region of interest;

based on the determined region of interest, selecting a distance parameter value of the sensor unit; and

operating the sensor unit based on the selected distance parameter value to obtain sensor data of the region of interest; and

controlling the autonomous vehicle based on the sensor data of the region of interest.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one environmental characteristic further comprises a type of road and traffic condition, and wherein the type of road and traffic condition is one of:

a high-traffic-freeway, a low-traffic-freeway, a high-traffic-surface-street, or a low-traffic-surface-street.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the distance parameter comprises an integer number of lanes away from a current lane of travel of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit comprises a LIDAR sensor.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the distance parameter comprises a scanning distance in at least one direction from the vehicle, and wherein the distance parameter is based on an angular scanning range of the LIDAR sensor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit comprises at least one of:

a camera sensor or a RADAR sensor.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the region of interest is based on a distance between the vehicle and the at least one other vehicle on a roadway.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one environmental characteristic further comprises a current lane of the vehicle, and wherein determining the region of interest comprises confining the region of interest based on the current lane of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the current lane of the vehicle is an edge lane of a roadway, and wherein confining the region of interest comprises confining the region of interest to the roadway.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, from a sensor unit of an autonomous vehicle, information indicative of an activity of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the activity comprises the autonomous vehicle moving in a new direction of travel;

based on the received information, determining a region of interest, wherein the region of interest comprises a roadway along the new direction of travel;

based on the determined region of interest, selecting a distance parameter value or a direction parameter of the sensor unit;

operating the sensor unit based on the selected distance parameter value and the selected direction parameter to obtain sensor data of the region of interest; and

controlling the autonomous vehicle based on the sensor data of the region of interest.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous mode.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the roadway along the new direction of travel comprises an intersection.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the roadway along the new direction of travel comprises a construction zone.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the roadway along the new direction of travel comprises a driveway.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving information indicative of at least one other vehicle on the roadway along the new direction of travel, wherein determining the region of interest is further based on the information indicative of the at least one other vehicle.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving information indicative of at least one obstacle on the roadway along the new direction of travel, wherein determining the region of interest is further based on the information indicative of the at least one obstacle.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein operating the sensor unit based on the selected distance parameter value and the selected direction parameter comprises operating the sensor unit over a range of distances or a range of directions that are less than a maximum distance or a maximum range of direction, respectively.

18. A method comprising:

operating a sensor unit of an autonomous vehicle within a first region of interest, wherein operating the sensor unit within the first region of interest comprises obtaining sensor data from a first set of sensors;

receiving information indicative of an activity of at least one other object in an environment;

based on the received information, determining a second region of interest, wherein the second region of interest includes the at least one other object in the environment;

based on the determined second region of interest, obtaining sensor data from a second set of sensors;

selecting a distance parameter value and a direction parameter of the sensor unit;

operating the sensor unit based on the selected distance parameter value and the selected direction parameter; and

controlling the autonomous vehicle based on sensor data of the second region of interest.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one other object in the environment comprises another vehicle, wherein the activity comprises at least one of the other vehicle:

slowing down, speeding up, or changing lanes.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one other object in the environment comprises a pedestrian, wherein the activity comprises movement of the pedestrian towards a cross walk.