Visually indicating vehicle caution regions

• US 10,676,022 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2017
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Development LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: X Development LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zevenbergen, John, Holmberg, Robert, Fischer, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Butler, Rodney A
• Application Number:
  US15/854,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20190193629A1
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/02 the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/507 specific to autonomous vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/525 automatically indicating risk of collision between vehicles in traffic or with pedestrians, e.g. after risk assessment using the vehicle sensor data
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2400/50 Projected symbol or information, e.g. onto the road or car body
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2800/20 Utility vehicles, e.g. for agriculture, construction work
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 17/003 for fork-lift trucks
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• 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

Abstract

An example system includes a vehicle, a light projector connected to the vehicle, and a control system. The control system is configured to determine a planned operating region for the vehicle within an environment. The control system is also configured to determine that the planned operating region is within a threshold distance of an object within the environment and, in response, determine a caution region to illuminate with the light projector near the object. The control system is further configured to cause the light projector to project an indication of the caution region near the object. The projected indication remains fixed in relation to the object as the vehicle moves toward the planned operating region.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a vehicle;

a light projector connected to the vehicle; and

a control system comprising at least one processor and data storage having stored therein computer-readable program instructions, wherein the control system is configured to;

determine a planned operating region for the vehicle within an environment;

determine that the planned operating region is within a threshold distance of an object within the environment;

in response to determining that the planned operating region is within the threshold distance of the object, determine a caution region to illuminate with the light projector near the object;

determine a size of the caution region based on a speed planned for the vehicle within the planned operating region; and

cause the light projector to project an indication of the caution region near the object, wherein the caution region has the determined size, and wherein the projected indication remains fixed in relation to the object as the vehicle moves toward the planned operating region.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the caution region comprises a buffer area near at least part of a perimeter of the object.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the control system is configured to determine the caution region by:

determining an intersection between the planned operating region and a first area, wherein the first area (i) surrounds the perimeter of the object and (ii) is within the threshold distance of the perimeter of the object;

determining a second area between the intersection and the perimeter of the object; and

combining the intersection and the second area to form the caution region.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the control system is configured to cause the light projector to project the indication of the caution region near the object by:

projecting the indication of the buffer area onto a ground surface of the environment near the object.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the light projector is repositionable with respect to the vehicle in two or more degrees of freedom, and wherein the control system is further configured to:

cause the vehicle to move towards the planned operating region; and

while the vehicle moves towards the planned operating region, reposition the light projector with respect to the vehicle to project the caution region in a fixed position in relation to the object.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the control system is further configured to:

based on (i) a positioning of the light projector with respect to the vehicle and (ii) a positioning of the vehicle with respect to the caution region, determine a keystone correction to apply to the indication of the caution region; and

cause the light projector to project the indication of the caution region modified according to the determined keystone correction.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to cause the light projector to project the indication of the caution region near the object before the planned operating region is occupied by the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to cause the light projector to project the indication of the caution region near the object while the planned operating region is occupied by the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the planned operating region comprises an area to be occupied by the vehicle while picking up the object, and wherein the caution region comprises an area between the planned operating region and the object.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the threshold distance is a first threshold distance, and wherein the control system is further configured to:

determine, based on the planned operating region, a safety region within the environment planned to be unoccupied by the vehicle, wherein the planned operating region is beyond a second threshold distance of the safety region; and

cause the light projector to project another indication of the safety region.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the light projector comprises at least a first light source connected to a first side of the vehicle and at least a second light source connected to a second side of the vehicle, and wherein the control system is further configured to:

determine an orientation of the vehicle with respect to the caution region;

based on the determined orientation, select at least one of the first light source or the second light source with which to illuminate the caution region; and

cause the at least one selected light source to project the indication of the caution region.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first light source is connected underneath a body of the vehicle on the first side of the body, and wherein the second light source is connected underneath the body of the vehicle on the second side of the body.

13. A method comprising:

determining, by a control system, a planned operating region for a vehicle within an environment;

determining, by the control system, that the planned operating region is within a threshold distance of an object within the environment;

in response to determining that the planned operating region is within the threshold distance of the object, determining, by the control system, a caution region to illuminate with a light projector near the object, wherein the light projector is connected to the vehicle, wherein the caution region comprises a buffer area near at least part of a perimeter of the object, and wherein determining the caution region comprises;

determining an intersection between the planned operating region and a first area, wherein the first area (i) surrounds the perimeter of the object and (ii) is within the threshold distance of the perimeter of the object;

determining a second area between the intersection and the perimeter of the object; and

combining the intersection and the second area to form the caution region; and

causing, by the control system, the light projector to project an indication of the caution region near the object, wherein the projected indication remains fixed in relation to the object as the vehicle moves toward the planned operating region.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein causing the light projector to project the indication of the caution region near the object comprises:

projecting the indication of the buffer area onto a ground surface of the environment near the object.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the light projector is repositionable with respect to the vehicle in two or more degrees of freedom, and wherein the method further comprises:

causing the vehicle to move towards the planned operating region; and

while the vehicle moves towards the planned operating region, repositioning the light projector with respect to the vehicle to project the caution region in a fixed position in relation to the object.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instruction that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operation comprising:

determining a planned operating region for a vehicle within an environment;

determining that the planned operating region is within a threshold distance of an object within the environment;

in response to determining that the planned operating region is within the threshold distance of the object, determining a caution region to illuminate with a light projector near the object, wherein the light projector is connected to the vehicle;

determining, based on a position of the planned operating region and a position of the object within the environment, a distance between the planned operating region and the object;

determining, based on the distance between the planned operating region and the object, a size of the caution region; and

providing instructions to cause the light projector to project an indication of the caution region near the object, wherein the caution region has the determined size, and wherein the projected indication remains fixed in relation to the object as the vehicle moves toward the planned operating region.