POSITIONING AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES BASED ON FIELD OF VIEW

• US 20150309510A1
• Filed: 04/29/2014
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Global Technologies International Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte., Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: CUDAK, GARY D., HARDEE, CHRISTOPHER J., REESE, BRYAN M., WEBER, J. MARK, DEAN, DAVID G., LOHMEYER, WILLIAM E. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,604,642 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/30 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2756/10 Involving external transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Positioning autonomous vehicles based on field of view, including: identifying, by a vehicle management module, one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle, each critical sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle; determining, by the vehicle management module, physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles; determining, by the vehicle management module in dependence upon the physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles, whether one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle; and responsive to determining that one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles.

Claims

1. A method of positioning autonomous vehicles based on field of view, the method comprising:

identifying, by a vehicle management module, one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle, each critical sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle;

determining, by the vehicle management module, physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles;

determining, by the vehicle management module in dependence upon the physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles, whether one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle that is bounded by the one or more critical sight lines; and

responsive to determining that one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises receiving, by the vehicle management module, information from one or more sensors mounted on the subject vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises determining, by the vehicle management module, whether the subject vehicle is being driven by a human operator.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising, responsive to determining that the subject vehicle is being driven by a human operator, determining, by the vehicle management module, a buffer distance for the subject vehicle, the buffer distance defining an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle in which autonomous vehicles are prohibited from travelling.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises identifying one or more static object sight lines, each static object sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle for sensing static objects.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising distributing, by the vehicle management module, navigation information to one or more autonomous vehicles.

7. An apparatus for positioning autonomous vehicles based on field of view, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

identifying, by a vehicle management module, one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle, each critical sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle;

determining, by the vehicle management module, physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles;

determining, by the vehicle management module in dependence upon the physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles, whether one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle that is bounded by the one or more critical sight lines; and

responsive to determining that one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises receiving, by the vehicle management module, information from one or more sensors mounted on the subject vehicle.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises determining, by the vehicle management module, whether the subject vehicle is being driven by a human operator.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the step of, responsive to determining that the subject vehicle is being driven by a human operator, determining, by the vehicle management module, a buffer distance for the subject vehicle, the buffer distance defining an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle in which autonomous vehicles are prohibited from travelling.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises identifying one or more static object sight lines, each static object sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle for sensing static objects.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the step of distributing, by the vehicle management module, navigation information to one or more autonomous vehicles.

13. A computer program product for positioning autonomous vehicles based on field of view, the computer program product disposed upon a computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of:

identifying, by a vehicle management module, one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle, each critical sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle;

determining, by the vehicle management module, physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles;

determining, by the vehicle management module in dependence upon the physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles, whether one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle that is bounded by the one or more critical sight lines; and

responsive to determining that one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises receiving, by the vehicle management module, information from one or more sensors mounted on the subject vehicle.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises determining, by the vehicle management module, whether the subject vehicle is being driven by a human operator.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the computer to carry out the step of, responsive to determining that the subject vehicle is being driven by a human operator, determining, by the vehicle management module, a buffer distance for the subject vehicle, the buffer distance defining an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle in which autonomous vehicles are prohibited from travelling.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises identifying one or more static object sight lines, each static object sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle for sensing static objects.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the computer to carry out the step of distributing, by the vehicle management module, navigation information to one or more autonomous vehicles.

19. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein the computer readable medium comprises a signal medium.

20. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein the computer readable medium comprises a storage medium.