IDENTIFYING A STOPPING PLACE FOR AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE

• US 20180113455A1
• Filed: 10/20/2016
• Published: 04/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motional AD, LLC (Aptiv PLC)
• Original Assignee: nuTonomy, Inc. (Aptiv PLC)
• Inventors: Iagnemma, Karl, Ravichandran, Harshavardhan, Wongpiromsarn, Tichakorn
• Granted Patent: US 10,331,129 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/54 Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/60 Traversable objects, e.g. speed bumps or curbs
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/00 Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00253 Taxi operations
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00256 Delivery operations
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0053 from vehicle to occupant
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0285 Parking performed automatically
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0248 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

Among other things, a vehicle is caused to drive autonomously through a road network toward a defined goal position. Current information is analyzed about potential stopping places in the vicinity of the goal position, to make a choice of a currently selected stopping place that is acceptable and feasible. The vehicle is caused to drive autonomously toward the currently selected stopping place. The activities are repeated until the vehicle stops at a currently selected stopping place.

Claims

1. A computer-based method comprising:

a. causing a vehicle to drive autonomously through a road network toward a defined goal position,

b. analyzing current information about potential stopping places in the vicinity of the goal position to make a choice of a currently selected stopping place that is acceptable and feasible,

c. causing the vehicle to drive autonomously toward the currently selected stopping place, and

d. repeating activities b and c until the vehicle stops at a currently selected stopping place.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing a combination of static information that is known prior to the vehicle beginning to drive autonomously through the road network and information that is obtained during the autonomous driving.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information about potential stopping places includes continuously analyzing information from sensors on the vehicle or information from one or more other sources or both.

4. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information about potential stopping places includes applying a predefined strategy for choosing a currently selected stopping place.

5. The method of claim 4 in which the strategy comprises stopping at the first feasible stopping place in the vicinity of the goal position.

6. The method of claim 4 in which the strategy comprises stopping at the most desirable among the currently feasible stopping places in the vicinity of the goal position.

7. The method of claim 4 in which the strategy comprises, if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place within a specified period of time, stopping at the first available stopping place in the vicinity of the goal position.

8. The method of claim 4 in which the strategy comprises trading off between choosing a best possible stopping place and a cost incurred in continuing to analyze current information to make a choice.

9. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, repeating activities b and c using a relaxed threshold for acceptability, a relaxed threshold for feasibility, or both.

10. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place that is acceptable and feasible, repeating activities b and c based on a redefined goal position.

11. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, repeating activities b and c based on an expanded vicinity of the goal position.

12. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, repeating activities b and c during an extended period of time beyond the specified amount of time.

13. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, enabling the vehicle operation to be controlled from a remote location.

14. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, aborting the stop.

15. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, relaxing a threshold for acceptability, redefining the goal position, or aborting the stop, based on information provided by a passenger.

16. The method of claim 1 comprising

if the vehicle has not stopped at a currently selected stopping place, automatically relaxing a threshold for acceptability, automatically redefining the goal position, or automatically aborting the stop.

17. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing map data about the road network.

18. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing information about features in the vicinity of the goal position as perceived by sensors.

19. The method of claim 7 in which the sensors are on the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing distances of respective stopping places from the goal position.

21. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing information about respective positions of the vehicle at the potential stopping places.

22. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing information about whether the vehicle can legally stop at the potential stopping places.

23. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes analyzing relative desirability of potential stopping places.

24. The method of claim 23 in which the analyzing relative desirability of potential stopping places comprises applying a statistical model to predict an expected feasibility state of a stopping place based on historical statistics of level of demand for parking and current traffic volumes.

25. The method of claim 1 in which the analyzing of current information includes identifying a set of potential stopping places that are within a proximity region in the vicinity of the goal position.

26. The method of claim 25 in which the analyzing of current information includes removing potential stopping places from the set that are not feasible stopping places for the vehicle.

27. The method of claim 26 in which, if no potential stopping places remain after the removing, the proximity region is enlarged.

28. The method of claim 1 in which there is no stopping place that is currently acceptable.

29. The method of claim 28 comprising analyzing current information about additional potential stopping places in the vicinity of the goal position to make a choice of a currently selected stopping place that is acceptable and feasible.

30. The method of claim 29 in which the additional potential stopping places lie within a larger vicinity of the goal position.

31. The method of claim 30 in which the larger vicinity is determined based on information provided by a passenger of the vehicle.

32. The method of claim 30 in which the larger vicinity is determined automatically based on pre-specified rules.

33. The method of claim 30 in which the size of the larger vicinity is less than a predetermined upper limit.

34. An autonomous vehicle comprising

steering, acceleration, and deceleration devices that respond to signals from an autonomous driving control system to drive the vehicle autonomously on a specified route through a road network defined by map data and toward a specified goal position,

sensors on the vehicle that perceive characteristics of potential stopping places in the vicinity of the goal position, and

a communication feature that sends the currently perceived characteristics to the autonomous driving control system and receives from the autonomous driving control system current information indicative of commands for the steering, acceleration, and deceleration devices to cause the vehicle to drive to and stop at a currently selected stopping place.

35. The vehicle of claim 34 in which the autonomous driving control system comprises elements onboard the vehicle.

36. The vehicle of claim 34 in which the autonomous driving control system comprises elements remote from the vehicle.

37. The vehicle of claim 34 in which the sensors on the vehicle comprise video capture, LIDAR, or RADAR devices.

38. The vehicle of claim 34 in which the current information received from the autonomous driving control system includes a continuously updated choice of a selected stopping place.