METHOD AND SYSTEM TO MANAGE VEHICLE GROUPS FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

• US 20180143649A1
• Filed: 11/22/2016
• Published: 05/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baidu USA LLC (Baidu Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Baidu USA LLC (Baidu Incorporated)
• Inventors: MIAO, JINGHAO, LI, LIYUN, YANG, I-HSUAN, FANG, SHIYUAN, WANG, JINGAO
• Granted Patent: US 10,705,536 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00 Drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0013 specially adapted for occupant comfort
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00136 for intellectual activities, e.g. reading, gaming or working
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0027 using trajectory prediction for other traffic participants
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0291 Fleet control monitoring fleets in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/127, G08G1/127
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/22 Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Route segment information is received from a first autonomous vehicle over a network. The route segment information includes one or more route segments and estimated entrance times, each of the entrance times being associated with one of the route segments and representing a time the first autonomous vehicle enters the route segment. Whether the first autonomous vehicle is within a specific route segment is determined based on an entrance time associated with the specific route segment and a current location of the first autonomous vehicle. If the first autonomous vehicle is within the specific route segment, a request is sent to invite the first autonomous vehicle to join a vehicle group of one or more vehicles associated with the specific route segment. The vehicle group is one of a plurality of vehicle groups that were determined based on route segment information received from a plurality of autonomous vehicles.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing autonomous vehicles, the method comprising:

receiving route segment information from a first autonomous vehicle over a network, wherein the route segment information includes one or more route segments and estimated entrance times, each of the entrance times being associated with one of the route segments and representing a time the first autonomous vehicle enters the route segment;

determining whether the first autonomous vehicle is within a specific route segment based on an entrance time associated with the specific route segment and a current location of the first autonomous vehicle; and

if the first autonomous vehicle is within the specific route segment, sending a request to invite the first autonomous vehicle to join a vehicle group of one or more vehicles associated with the specific route segment, wherein the vehicle group is one of a plurality of vehicle groups that were determined based on route segment information received from a plurality of autonomous vehicles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle group includes at least a second autonomous vehicle, and wherein the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle are within a same route segment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the first autonomous vehicle has left the specific route segment; and

if the first autonomous vehicle is no longer within the specific route segment, sending a request to the first autonomous vehicle to remove the first autonomous vehicle from the vehicle group.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving a message from a first passenger of the first autonomous vehicle over the network; and

forwarding the message to a second passenger of the second autonomous vehicle over the network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating the vehicle group if there is no vehicle group currently associated with the specific route segment; and

terminating the vehicle group if there is no autonomous vehicle currently associated with the vehicle group.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a message from a first passenger of the first vehicle to be sent to a second passenger of a second vehicle of the vehicle group;

determining whether the message is an offensive message; and

removing the first passenger from the vehicle group in response to determining that the message is offensive.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for forming a vehicle group for autonomous vehicles, the operations comprising:

receiving route segment information from a first autonomous vehicle over a network, wherein the route segment information includes one or more route segments and estimated entrance times, each of the entrance times being associated with one of the route segments and representing a time the first autonomous vehicle enters the route segment;

determining whether the first autonomous vehicle is within a specific route segment based on an entrance time associated with the specific route segment and a current location of the first autonomous vehicle; and

if the first autonomous vehicle is within the specific route segment, sending a request to invite the first autonomous vehicle to join a vehicle group of one or more vehicles associated with the specific route segment, wherein the vehicle group is one of a plurality of vehicle groups that were determined based on route segment information received from a plurality of autonomous vehicles.

8. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the vehicle group includes at least a second autonomous vehicle, and wherein the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle are within a same route segment.

9. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the first autonomous vehicle has left the specific route segment; and

if the first autonomous vehicle is no longer within the specific route segment, sending a request to the first autonomous vehicle to remove the first autonomous vehicle from the vehicle group.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from a first passenger of the first autonomous vehicle over the network; and

forwarding the message to a second passenger of the second autonomous vehicle over the network.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

creating the vehicle group if there is no vehicle group currently associated with the specific route segment; and

terminating the vehicle group if there is no autonomous vehicle currently associated with the vehicle group.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from a first passenger of the first vehicle to be sent to a second passenger of a second vehicle of the vehicle group;

determining whether the message is an offensive message; and

removing the first passenger from the vehicle group in response to determining that the message is offensive.

13. A data processing system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations for forming a vehicle group for autonomous vehicles, the operations including;

receiving route segment information from a first autonomous vehicle over a network, wherein the route segment information includes one or more route segments and estimated entrance times, each of the entrance times being associated with one of the route segments and representing a time the first autonomous vehicle enters the route segment;

determining whether the first autonomous vehicle is within a specific route segment based on an entrance time associated with the specific route segment and a current location of the first autonomous vehicle; and

if the first autonomous vehicle is within the specific route segment, sending a request to invite the first autonomous vehicle to join a vehicle group of one or more vehicles associated with the specific route segment, wherein the vehicle group is one of a plurality of vehicle groups that were determined based on route segment information received from a plurality of autonomous vehicles.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the vehicle group includes at least a second autonomous vehicle, and wherein the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle are within a same route segment.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the first autonomous vehicle has left the specific route segment; and

if the first autonomous vehicle is no longer within the specific route segment, sending a request to the first autonomous vehicle to remove the first autonomous vehicle from the vehicle group.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from a first passenger of the first autonomous vehicle over the network; and

forwarding the message to a second passenger of the second autonomous vehicle over the network.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

creating the vehicle group if there is no vehicle group currently associated with the specific route segment; and

terminating the vehicle group if there is no autonomous vehicle currently associated with the vehicle group.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from a first passenger of the first vehicle to be sent to a second passenger of a second vehicle of the vehicle group;

determining whether the message is an offensive message; and

removing the first passenger from the vehicle group in response to determining that the message is offensive.

19. A computer-implemented method for operating an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:

obtaining an itinerary responsive to an input destination, the itinerary including a route to the input destination, the route having a plurality of points of interest;

segmenting the route into a plurality of route segments based on the points of interest and location and map information;

transmitting the route segment information to a remote server over a network, wherein the remote server receives route segment information from a plurality of autonomous vehicles over the network;

receiving a vehicle group identifier (ID) identifying a group of one or more vehicles nearby from the remote server, wherein the remote server determined a plurality of vehicle groups based on the route segment information received from the plurality of autonomous vehicles; and

in response to the vehicle group ID, joining the group of one or more nearby vehicles to allow passengers of the nearby vehicles to communicate with each other.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of route segments, estimating an entrance time representing a time the autonomous vehicle enters the route segment;

transmitting the estimated entrance time as part of the route segment information to the remote server, wherein the remote server determines which of the vehicle groups the autonomous vehicle belongs based on the estimated entrance time.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein passengers of the vehicles in the group communicate with each other via the remote server over the network.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving media content from the remote server, wherein the media content was identified and rendered by the remote server based on a point of interest associated with the route segment corresponding to the group of vehicles; and

presenting the media content to a passenger of the autonomous vehicle.