GENERATION OF OPTIMAL TRAJECTORIES FOR NAVIGATION OF VEHICLES

• US 20200132488A1
• Filed: 10/17/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motional AD, LLC (Aptiv PLC)
• Original Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited (Aptiv PLC)
• Inventors: Slutskyy, Kostyantyn, Yershov, Dmitry S.
• Granted Patent: US 11,796,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0011 involving control alternatives for a single driving scenario, e.g. planning several paths to avoid obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0015 specially adapted for safety
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3446 Details of route searching algorithms, e.g. Dijkstra, A*, arc-flags, using precalculated routes
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/021 in which a variable is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance

Abstract

Techniques for generation of an optimal trajectory for a vehicle include receiving, using one or more processors of the vehicle, an instruction for the vehicle to travel from an initial spatiotemporal location to a destination spatiotemporal location. One or more processors are used to generate a trajectory including travel segments. The trajectory begins at the initial spatiotemporal location and terminates at the destination spatiotemporal location. Each travel segment begins at a first spatiotemporal location and terminates at a second spatiotemporal location. Each travel segment is associated with operational metrics. The operational metrics are associated with navigating the vehicle from the first spatiotemporal location to the second spatiotemporal location. Each operational metric is optimized across the travel segments to generate the trajectory. Using a control module of the vehicle, the vehicle is navigated from the initial spatiotemporal location to the destination spatiotemporal location along the trajectory.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, using one or more processors of a vehicle, an instruction for the vehicle to travel from an initial spatiotemporal location to a destination spatiotemporal location;

generating, using the one or more processors, a trajectory comprising a plurality of travel segments, the trajectory beginning at the initial spatiotemporal location and terminating at the destination spatiotemporal location, each travel segment of the plurality of travel segments beginning at a first spatiotemporal location of a plurality of spatiotemporal locations and terminating at a second spatiotemporal location of the plurality of spatiotemporal locations, each travel segment of the plurality of travel segments associated with a plurality of operational metrics,

wherein the plurality of operational metrics associated with navigating the vehicle from the first spatiotemporal location to the second spatiotemporal location, the plurality of spatiotemporal locations including the initial spatiotemporal location and the destination spatiotemporal location,

wherein the generating of the trajectory comprises optimizing each operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics across the plurality of travel segments to provide the trajectory, the optimizing performed in accordance with a ranking of the plurality of operational metrics, the ranking associated with navigational safety of the vehicle; and

navigating, using a control module of the vehicle, the vehicle from the initial spatiotemporal location to the destination spatiotemporal location in accordance with the trajectory.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the optimizing of each operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics comprises maximizing or minimizing each operational metric across the trajectory.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the optimizing of each operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics comprises maximizing or minimizing a sum of values of each operational metric across the trajectory.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each spatiotemporal location of the plurality of spatiotemporal locations comprises at least one of geographical coordinates, a travel time associated with the vehicle, or a heading of the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein an operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics that is associated with a travel segment denotes a number of predicted collisions of the vehicle with objects when traveling along the travel segment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises selecting travel segments associated with the number of predicted collisions less than a threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the threshold is 1.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein an operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics that is associated with a travel segment denotes a number of predicted stops for the vehicle when traveling along the travel segment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises selecting travel segments associated with the number of predicted stops less than a threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein an operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics that is associated with a travel segment denotes a predicted lateral clearance between the vehicle and objects when traveling along the travel segment.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises selecting travel segments associated with the predicted lateral clearance between the vehicle and the objects greater than a threshold.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein an operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics that is associated with a travel segment denotes a predicted acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle when traveling along the travel segment.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises selecting travel segments associated with the predicted acceleration or deceleration less than a threshold.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein an operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics that is associated with a travel segment denotes an amount of road surface damage of the travel segment.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises selecting travel segments associated with the amount of road surface damage less than a threshold to increase passenger comfort.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises discarding travel segments associated with an operational metric having a value that is greater than an optimal value for the operational metric.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the trajectory further comprises responsive to a value of an operational metric associated with a travel segment of a partial trajectory falling below a threshold, terminating, using the one or more processors, evaluation of the partial trajectory.

18. A vehicle comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

one or more non-transitory storage media storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to;

receive an instruction for the vehicle to travel from an initial spatiotemporal location to a destination spatiotemporal location;

generate a trajectory comprising a plurality of travel segments, the trajectory beginning at the initial spatiotemporal location and terminating at the destination spatiotemporal location, each travel segment of the plurality of travel segments beginning at a first spatiotemporal location of a plurality of spatiotemporal locations and terminating at a second spatiotemporal location of the plurality of spatiotemporal locations,

wherein each travel segment of the plurality of travel segments associated with a plurality of operational metrics, the plurality of operational metrics associated with navigating the vehicle from the first spatiotemporal location to the second spatiotemporal location, the plurality of spatiotemporal locations including the initial spatiotemporal location and the destination spatiotemporal location,

wherein the generating of the trajectory comprises optimizing each operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics across the plurality of travel segments to provide the trajectory, the optimizing performed in accordance with a ranking of the plurality of operational metrics, the ranking associated with navigational safety of the vehicle; and

navigate, using a control module of the vehicle, the vehicle from the initial spatiotemporal location to the destination spatiotemporal location in accordance with the trajectory.

19. One or more non-transitory storage media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:

receive an instruction for the vehicle to travel from an initial spatiotemporal location to a destination spatiotemporal location;

generate a trajectory comprising a plurality of travel segments, the trajectory beginning at the initial spatiotemporal location and terminating at the destination spatiotemporal location, each travel segment of the plurality of travel segments beginning at a first spatiotemporal location of a plurality of spatiotemporal locations and terminating at a second spatiotemporal location of the plurality of spatiotemporal locations, each travel segment of the plurality of travel segments associated with a plurality of operational metrics,

wherein the plurality of operational metrics associated with navigating the vehicle from the first spatiotemporal location to the second spatiotemporal location, the plurality of spatiotemporal locations including the initial spatiotemporal location and the destination spatiotemporal location,

wherein the generating of the trajectory comprises optimizing each operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics across the plurality of travel segments to provide the trajectory, the optimizing performed in accordance with a ranking of the plurality of operational metrics, the ranking associated with navigational safety of the vehicle; and

navigate, using a control module of the vehicle, the vehicle from the initial spatiotemporal location to the destination spatiotemporal location in accordance with the trajectory.

20. The one or more non-transitory storage media of claim 19, wherein each operational metric of the plurality of operational metrics is maximized or minimized across the trajectory.