VARIABLY CONTROLLED GROUND VEHICLE

• US 20150346724A1
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: JONES, Richard Donovan, WHELAN, David A., WENBERG, Lynne
• Granted Patent: US 10,124,800 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/14 Clutch pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/087 where the control system corrects or modifies a request from the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/10 Interpretation of driver requests or demands
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/16 Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa

Abstract

Method and apparatus for providing autonomous control of a vehicle. A vehicle can be manually controlled by an operator. An autonomous system can monitor the operator'"'"'s control inputs and the environment of the vehicle to determine whether the control inputs result in safe operation of the vehicle. If control inputs are not safe, then the autonomous system can modify the operator'"'"'s unsafe inputs into safe inputs. In various instances, the autonomous system can operate the vehicle without operator input. In the event an operator attempts to apply control inputs to the vehicle while the autonomous system is otherwise in control, the autonomous system can check to see whether the operator'"'"'s inputs result in safe operation of the vehicle. If the operator'"'"'s control inputs are safe, then the autonomous system can replace its autonomous commands with the operator'"'"'s commands.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a vehicle, comprising:

generating at least one autonomous operation command for directing a vehicle along a predefined path;

monitoring operation of at least one operator-input control input for the vehicle, wherein operation of the at least one control input results in a modified command different from the at least one autonomous command; and

automatically adjusting operation of the at least one control input, comprising;

upon determining that the monitored at least one control input is within a determined safe range of operation, replacing the autonomous command with the modified command; and

upon determining that the monitored at least one control input is outside of the determined safe range of operation, preventing modification of the autonomous command.

2. The method of claim 1, upon preventing modification of the autonomous command, further comprising providing feedback to the at least one control input, wherein the feedback provides an indication of the prevented modification to the autonomous command.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one control input for the vehicle comprises at least one of:

a steering input, an acceleration input, and a braking input.

4. A vehicle, comprising:

a control input;

a sensor;

a vehicle control that modifies at least one of a travel speed and direction of travel of the vehicle in response to an input to the control input;

a controller programmed to;

receive a detected aspect of an environment of the vehicle from the sensor;

determine a safe range of operation of the control input that corresponds to a safe range of operation of the vehicle control, wherein the determined safe range of operation of the control input is based on the detected aspect of the environment;

monitor operation of the control input by a vehicle operator; and

upon determining that the vehicle operator has operated the control input outside of the determined safe range of operation, automatically modify operation of the vehicle control to an operation within the determined safe range.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the controller is further programmed to autonomously operate the vehicle,

wherein the controller is further programmed to:

send at least one autonomous command to the vehicle control for directing the vehicle along a predefined path; and

provide feedback through the control input, wherein the feedback provides an indication of the autonomous command to the operator;

wherein the controller monitors operation of the control input by monitoring for operation of the control input that results in a modified command that differs from the at least one autonomous command to the vehicle control; and

wherein the controller automatically modifies operation of the control input by;

upon determining that the monitored operation of the control input is within the safe range of operation, replacing the autonomous command with the modified command; and

upon determining that the monitored operation of the control input is outside of the safe range of operation, preventing modification of the autonomous command.

6. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein the controller is further programmed to provide second feedback through the control input, wherein the second feedback provides an indication of the prevented modification of the autonomous command.

7. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the controller is further programmed to determine a skill level of the operator;

and

adjust the determined safe range of operation based on the determined skill level of the operator.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the controller determines the skill level of the operator by:

identifying a particular operator; and

monitoring operation of the at least one control input for the vehicle by the operator at a limit of the safe range of operation and, upon determining that the operator operates the at least one control input at the limit in a correct manner, incrementally increasing the determined safe range of operation for the identified operator.

9. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the controller determines the skill level of the operator by identifying one of a plurality of keys for the vehicle, wherein each of the plurality of keys corresponds to a designated skill level.

10. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the detected aspect of the environment comprises a detected travel lane in which the vehicle is traveling, wherein the at least one control input comprises a steering control, and wherein determining a safe range of operation of the steering control comprises determining a range of steering control positions that will maintain the vehicle within the detected travel lane.

11. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the detected aspect of the environment comprises a target travel speed for the vehicle, wherein the at least one control input comprises a speed control, wherein determining a safe range of operation of the speed control comprises determining a range of speed control positions that maintain the travel speed of the vehicle at the target travel speed.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the target travel speed is a posted speed limit.

13. A controller for a vehicle, comprising:

an input configured to receive a plurality of control input signals from vehicle inceptors;

an output configured to transmit a plurality of command signals to a plurality of vehicle controls; and

computer logic that;

transforms the plurality of control input signals into the plurality of command signals; and

upon determining that the plurality of control input signals result in an unsafe command to the vehicle controls, modifies the plurality of command signals to safe command signals.

14. The controller of claim 13, wherein the controller further comprises computer logic that operates the vehicle in an autonomous mode, wherein the controller further comprises a second output configured to provide feedback to the vehicle inceptors, wherein the computer logic:

determines a predefined path for the vehicle;

automatically transmits one or more command signals to direct the vehicle along the predefined path;

provides feedback through the vehicle inceptor through the second output, wherein the feedback provides an indication of the automatically transmitted one or more command signals to a vehicle operator; and

wherein modifying the plurality of command signals to safe command signals comprises;

upon determining that a plurality of control input signals results in a modified plurality of command signals that is safe, replacing the automatically transmitted one or more control signals with the modified plurality of command signals; and

upon determining that a plurality of control input signals results in a modified plurality of command signals that is not safe, preventing replacement of the automatically transmitted one or more control signals.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the second output provides second feedback to the vehicle inceptor, wherein the second feedback provides an indication of the prevented replacement.

16. The controller of claim 13, wherein the controller receives an indication of a skill level of a vehicle operator;

and

wherein the controller determines whether a received plurality of control input signals translates to unsafe command signals, based on the indication of skill level.

17. The controller of claim 13, wherein the controller further comprises:

a second input that provides an indication of a deviation from safe operation of the vehicle; and

a second output configured to provide feedback to the vehicle inceptors;

wherein the computer logic;

determines at least one command signal that corrects an indicated deviation;

automatically transmist the determined at least one command signal to the plurality of vehicle controls; and

automatically transmits feedback to the vehicle inceptors, wherein the feedback provides an indication of the automatically transmitted at least one command signal.

18. The controller of claim 17, wherein the indication of a deviation is an indication of a lane departure from a travel lane, and wherein the determined at least one command signal comprises a steering command to correct the lane departure.

19. The controller of claim 17, wherein the indication of a deviation is an indication of a speed departure from a target vehicle speed, and wherein the determined at least one command signal comprises a speed command to correct the speed departure.

20. The controller of claim 13, wherein the vehicle inceptors comprises at least two of:

a steering inceptor, a throttle inceptor, and a brake inceptor.