Obstacle Evaluation Technique

• US 20140288817A1
• Filed: 06/05/2014
• Published: 09/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Dowdall, Jonathan Baldwin, Zhu, Jiajun
• Granted Patent: US 9,495,875 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/301
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/00 Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles B60R22/00; devices, apparatus or methods for life-saving in general A62B; safety devices for propulsion unit control specially adapted for, or arranged in, vehicles B60K28/00; seats constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats, B60N2/42; energy-absorbing arrangements for hand wheels for steering vehicles B62D1/11; energy-absorbing arrangements for vehicle steering columns B62D1/19; harnessing in aircraft B64D25/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/013 including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous mode may engage in an obstacle evaluation technique that includes employing a sensor system to collect data relating to a plurality of obstacles, identifying from the plurality of obstacles an obstacle pair including a first obstacle and a second obstacle, engaging in an evaluation process by comparing the data collected for the first obstacle to the data collected for the second obstacle, and in response to engaging in the evaluation process, making a determination of whether the first obstacle and the second obstacle are two separate obstacles.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

at least one sensor;

at least one processor; and

data storage comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to;

receive from the at least one sensor data relating to a plurality of potential obstacles,

conduct at least one evaluation on a pair of potential obstacles in the plurality of potential obstacles, the at least one evaluation including a threshold comparison of the received data,

classify the pair of potential obstacles as a single obstacle when the evaluation indicates that no threshold comparison of the received data is met, and

classify the pair of potential obstacles as two separate obstacles when the evaluation indicates that at least one threshold comparison of the received data is met.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one evaluation comprises a determination of whether the pair of potential obstacles has had between them a change in distance that exceeds a distance threshold.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one evaluation comprises a determination of whether the pair of potential obstacles has had between them a change in change in speed differential that exceeds a speed threshold.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one evaluation comprises a determination of whether the pair of potential obstacles has had between them an orientation differential that exceeds an orientation threshold.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein classifying the pair of potential obstacles as a single obstacle comprises merging the received data that relates to the pair of potential obstacles.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one evaluation comprises a respective evaluation of every pair of potential obstacles in the plurality of potential obstacles.