Autonomous vehicle collision mitigation systems and methods

• US 10,386,856 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2017
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uatc, LLC (Uber Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Wood, Matthew Shaw, Leach, William M., Poeppel, Scott C., Letwin, Nicholas G., Zych, Noah
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Tyler J
• Application Number:
  US15/637,539
• Publication Number:
  US 20190004538A1
• Time in Patent Office: 782 Days
• 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 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4026 Cycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4029 Pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4044 Direction of movement, e.g. backwards
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/001 Planning or execution of driving tasks
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00276 for two or more other traffic participants
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0257 using a radar radar systems designed for anti-collision purposes between land vehicles or between land vehicle and fixed obstacles G01S13/931
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0287 involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling an autonomous vehicle are provided. In one example embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes obtaining, from an autonomy system, data indicative of a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle through a surrounding environment. The method includes determining a region of interest in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the planned trajectory. The method includes controlling one or more first sensors to obtain data indicative of the region of interest. The method includes identifying one or more objects in the region of interest, based at least in part on the data obtained by the one or more first sensors. The method includes controlling the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more objects identified in the region of interest.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method implemented for controlling an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a computing system comprising one or more first computing devices in communication with one or more first sensors, from an autonomy system that is separate from the computing system and comprises one or more second computing devices in communication with one or more second sensors, data indicative of a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle through a surrounding environment, wherein the planned trajectory is based at least in part on sensor data from the one or more second sensors;

determining, by the computing system, a region of interest in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the planned trajectory;

controlling, by the computing system, the one or more first sensors to obtain data indicative of the region of interest;

identifying, by the computing system, one or more objects in the region of interest based at least in part on the data obtained by the one or more first sensors; and

providing, by the computing system, data indicative of the one or more objects in the region of interest to the autonomy system of the autonomous vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein controlling the one or more first sensors comprises:

steering the one or more first sensors of the autonomous vehicle toward the region of interest; and

controlling the one or more first sensors steered toward the region of interest to obtain the data indicative of the region of interest.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein steering the one or more first sensors comprises:

adjusting a region of detection associated with each of the one or more first sensors to overlap at least in part with the region of interest.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the region of detection associated with each of the one or more first sensors comprises:

physically moving each first sensor via one or more actuators associated with each first sensor.

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

providing, by the computing system, one or more control signals to one or more vehicle control systems to control a motion of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the one or more control signals are based at least in part on the one or more objects identified in the region of interest.

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

controlling, by the autonomy system, the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more objects identified in the region of interest.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more first computing devices have a simplified hardware architecture relative to the one or more second computing devices.

8. A computing system for controlling an autonomous vehicle, the computing system comprising:

one or more first processors in communication with one or more first sensors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising;

obtaining, from an autonomy system that is separate from the one or more first processors and comprises one or more second processors in communication with one or more second sensors, data indicative of a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle through a surrounding environment, wherein the planned trajectory is based at least in part on sensor data from the one or more second sensors;

determining a region of interest in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the planned trajectory;

controlling the one or more first sensors to obtain data indicative of the region of interest;

identifying one or more objects in the region of interest based at least in part on the data obtained by the one or more first sensors; and

providing data indicative of the one or more objects in the region of interest to the autonomy system of the autonomous vehicle.

9. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

steering the one or more first sensors of the autonomous vehicle toward the region of interest; and

controlling the one or more first sensors steered toward the region of interest to obtain the data indicative of the region of interest.

10. The computing system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

adjusting a region of detection associated with each of the one or more first sensors to overlap at least in part with the region of interest.

11. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

physically moving each first sensor via one or more actuators associated with each first sensor.

12. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing one or more control signals to one or more vehicle control systems to control a motion of the autonomous vehicle.

13. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the autonomy system obtains data indicative of the surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle from the one or more second sensors, identifies one or more objects in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the data indicative of the surrounding environment from the one or more second sensors, compares the one or more objects in the surrounding environment with the one or more objects in the region of interest, and provides one or more control signals to control the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the comparison.

14. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the autonomy system provides one or more control signals to adjust one or more settings associated with identifying an object in a surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle.

15. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

one or more first processors in communication with one or more first sensors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more first processors cause the autonomous vehicle to perform operations, the operations comprising;

obtaining, from an autonomy system that is separate from the one or more first processors and comprises one or more second processors in communication with one or more second sensors, data indicative of a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle through a surrounding environment, wherein the planned trajectory is based at least in part on sensor data from the one or more second sensors associated with the autonomy system;

determining a region of interest in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the planned trajectory;

controlling the one or more first sensors to obtain data indicative of the region of interest;

identifying one or more objects in the region of interest based at least in part on the data obtained by the one or more first sensors; and

providing data indicative of the one or more objects in the region of interest to the autonomy system of the autonomous vehicle.

16. The autonomous vehicle of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

steering the one or more first sensors of the autonomous vehicle toward the region of interest by adjusting a region of detection associated with each of the one or more first sensors to overlap at least in part with the region of interest; and

controlling the one or more first sensors steered toward the region of interest to obtain the data indicative of the region of interest.

17. The autonomous vehicle of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise physically moving each first sensor via one or more actuators associated with each first sensor.

18. The autonomous vehicle of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing one or more control signals to one or more vehicle control systems to control a motion of the autonomous vehicle.

19. The autonomous vehicle of claim 15, wherein:

the autonomy system controls the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more objects in the region of interest.

20. The autonomous vehicle of claim 15, wherein the autonomy system obtains data indicative of the surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle from the one or more second sensors, identifies one or more objects in the surrounding environment based at least in part on the data indicative of the surrounding environment from the one or more second sensors, compares the one or more objects in the surrounding environment with the one or more objects in the region of interest, and provides one or more control signals to control the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the comparison.