Control of vehicles based on auditory signals

• US 8,571,743 B1
• Filed: 04/09/2012
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Cullinane, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Assistant Examiner(s): BERNS, MICHAEL ANDREW
• Application Number:
  US13/442,303
• Time in Patent Office: 568 Days
• Field of Search: 701/23
• US Class Current: 701/23
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/42 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/54 Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/60 Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18154 Approaching an intersection
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/00 Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Methods and systems for control of vehicles based on auditory signals are described. In an example, a computing device may be configured to control a vehicle or may be in communication with the vehicle. The computing device may be configured to receive audio information relating to an audible crosswalk signal for an intersection. The computing device also may be configured to determine a likelihood associated with a presence of a pedestrian in a crosswalk at the intersection based on the audio information. The computing device further may be configured to determine a control strategy associated with a driving behavior of the vehicle from among multiple control strategies, based on the likelihood, and may be configured to provide instructions to control the vehicle based on the determined control strategy.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a computing device that is in communication with a vehicle, audio information relating to an audible crosswalk signal for an intersection;

determining a likelihood associated with a presence of a pedestrian in a crosswalk of the intersection, based on the audio information;

determining a control strategy associated with a driving behavior of the vehicle from among multiple control strategies, based at least on the likelihood; and

providing instructions to control the vehicle based on the determined control strategy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is in an autonomous operation mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the likelihood comprises determining a state of the audible crosswalk signal, based on the audio information, wherein the state of the audible crosswalk signal provides information meaningful to pedestrian crossing control.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the likelihood comprises determining an estimate of an amount of time remaining before the state of audible crosswalk signal changes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the state of the audible crosswalk signal and the estimate of the amount of time remaining before the state of the audible crosswalk signal changes comprises determining one or more of frequency and amplitude of an audio signal associated with the audio information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a direction of travel of the pedestrian, based on the audio information; and

determining the control strategy associated with the driving behavior of the vehicle from among multiple control strategies, based at least on the direction of travel of the pedestrian.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the instructions to control the vehicle based on the determined control strategy comprises determining a desired path of the vehicle based at least in part on the likelihood associated with the presence of the pedestrian at the intersection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the instructions to control the vehicle based on the determined control strategy comprises providing the instructions for stopping the vehicle when the likelihood is greater than a threshold likelihood.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the likelihood comprises determining a state of a traffic signal at the intersection, based on the audio information, wherein the state of the traffic signal provides information meaningful to traffic control.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the likelihood comprises determining an estimate of an amount of time remaining before the state of the traffic signal at the intersection changes.

11. A system, comprising:

one or more sensors; and

a computing device configured to control a vehicle, wherein the computing device is coupled to the one or more sensors, the computing device configured to;

receive, from the one or more sensors, audio information relating to an audible crosswalk signal for an intersection that the vehicle is approaching;

determine a likelihood associated with a presence of a pedestrian in a crosswalk of the intersection, based on the audio information;

determine a control strategy associated with a driving behavior of the vehicle from among multiple control strategies, based at least on the likelihood; and

provide instructions to control the vehicle based on the determined control strategy.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the vehicle is in an autonomous operation mode.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensors include an audio sensor, and wherein the computing device is configured to receive an audio signal associated with the audio information from the audio sensor.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device is further configured to determine one or more of frequency and amplitude of the audio signal to determine the likelihood.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the computing device is further configured to determine that the pedestrian is present at the intersection when the determined likelihood is greater than a threshold likelihood.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the determined control strategy comprises a defensive driving behavior comprising at least one of:

(i) providing an alert to a driver of the vehicle, (ii) slowing a speed of the vehicle, and (iii) stopping the vehicle.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensors include a Global Position System (GPS) sensor, and wherein the computing device is further configured to:

receive, from the GPS sensor, information associated with a geographic location of the vehicle and the intersection the vehicle is approaching;

determine that the audible crosswalk signal is present at the intersection, based on the information; and

enable an audio sensor to receive the audio information relating to the audible crosswalk signal.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the computing device is configured to enable a sensor of the one or more sensors when the determined likelihood is greater than a threshold likelihood.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device of a vehicle to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

receiving audio information relating to an audible crosswalk signal for an intersection that the vehicle is approaching;

determining a likelihood associated with a presence of a pedestrian in a crosswalk of the intersection, based on the audio information;

determining a control strategy associated with a driving behavior of the vehicle from among multiple control strategies, based at least on the likelihood; and

providing instructions to control the vehicle based on the determined control strategy.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the vehicle is approaching the intersection or is stopped at the intersection.