Vehicle control for reducing road wear

• US 10,640,121 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2017
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Brew, Kevin W., Gordon, Michael S., Kozloski, James R., Pickover, Clifford A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Li, Ce Li
• Application Number:
  US15/581,028
• Publication Number:
  US 20180314258A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,103 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/35 Road bumpiness, e.g. potholes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/10 Path keeping cruise control for automatically following a preceding vehicle B60W30/165
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287

Abstract

In a computer-implemented method embodiment of the present invention, a self-driving vehicle (SDV) is steered onto a particular tire path on a roadway based on past taken tire paths. One or more processors determine a pattern of tire path usage by vehicles on a roadway. Based on this previous tire path usage, the processor(s) direct an SDV on-board computer on an SDV to pick at least one second tire path for the SDV to drive thereon based on the pattern of tire path usage by the vehicles on the roadway.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by one or more processors, a pattern of tire path usage by vehicles on a roadway;

directing, by one or more processors, an on-board computer of a vehicle to recommend at least one tire path for the vehicle to drive thereon based on the pattern of tire path usage by the vehicles on the roadway, wherein the vehicle is a self-driving vehicle (SDV);

determining, by one or more processors, that the SDV is riding on studded tires; and

adjusting, by one or more processors, which at least one tire path is chosen based on the SDV riding on the studded tires.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one tire path comprises multiple tire paths, and wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

determining, by one or more processors, that the roadway is paved; and

directing, by one or more processors, an SDV on-board computer on the SDV to select a distribution of the multiple tire paths of a paved roadway for the SDV to drive thereon.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein said determining, by one or more processors, that the roadway is paved, further comprises determining, by one or more processors, that the roadway is constructed of materials selected from a group consisting of asphalt, concrete, composite pavement, and bituminous surfaces.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

identifying, by one or more processors, rutting in at least one tire path from the pattern of tire path usage by the vehicles on the roadway; and

directing, by one or more processors, an SDV on-board computer on the SDV to pick a tire path that is less rutted than said at least one tire path for the SDV to drive thereon.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one tire path for the SDV is picked based on at least one factor from a group consisting of:

a type of road material used to construct the roadway;

a width of the roadway;

an amount of traffic on the roadway;

a speed of traffic on the roadway;

types of other vehicles on the roadway;

weights of other vehicles on the roadway;

weather conditions on the roadway; and

defects in a surface of the roadway.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

receiving, by an SDV on-board computer on the SDV, road condition reports about the roadway from multiple other SDVs on the roadway; and

adjusting, by the SDV on-board computer on the SDV, which at least one tire path is chosen based on road condition reports about the roadway from multiple other SDVs on the roadway.

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

receiving, by the SDV on-board computer on the SDV, the road condition reports from a blockchain that is supported by the multiple other SDVs.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer-implemented method is executed as a cloud-based service.

9. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable and executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

determine a pattern of tire path usage by vehicles on a roadway;

direct an on-board computer of a vehicle to recommend at least one tire path for the vehicle to drive thereon based on the pattern of tire path usage by the vehicles on the roadway, wherein the vehicle is a self-driving vehicle (SDV);

determine that the SDV is riding on studded tires; and

adjust which at least one tire path is chosen based on the SDV riding on the studded tires.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the at least one tire path comprises multiple tire paths, and wherein the program instructions are further readable and executable by the processor to cause the processor to:

determine that the roadway is paved; and

direct an SDV on-board computer on the SDV to select a distribution of the multiple tire paths of a paved roadway for the SDV to drive thereon.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the program instructions are provided as a service in a cloud environment.

12. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer readable memories operably coupled to the one or more processors;

wherein the one or more computer readable memories have program instructions stored thereon for execution by at least one of the one or more processors, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to determine a pattern of tire path usage by vehicles on a roadway;

program instructions to direct an on-board computer of a vehicle to recommend at least one tire path for the vehicle to drive thereon based on the pattern of tire path usage by the vehicles on the roadway, wherein the vehicle is a self-driving vehicle (SDV);

program instructions to determine that the SDV is riding on studded tires; and

program instructions to adjust which at least one tire path is chosen based on the SDV riding on the studded tires.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one tire path comprises multiple tire paths, and wherein the program instructions further comprise:

program instructions to determine that the roadway is paved; and

program instructions to direct an SDV on-board computer on the SDV to select a distribution of the multiple tire paths of a paved roadway for the SDV to drive thereon.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the program instructions are provided as a service in a cloud environment.