Positioning vehicles to improve quality of observations at intersections

• US 9,280,156 B1
• Filed: 02/28/2014
• Issued: 03/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ferguson, David Ian Franklin, Fairfield, Nathaniel, Templeton, Bradley
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Calvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Schneider, Paula L
• Application Number:
  US14/193,674
• Time in Patent Office: 739 Days
• Field of Search: 701/25, 701/117, 701/23
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/10 Number of lanes
• 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: B60W 30/18159 Traversing an intersection
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for controlling autonomous vehicles utilizing maps that include visibility information. A map is stored at a computing device associated with a vehicle. The vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous mode that supports a plurality of driving behaviors. The map includes information about a plurality of roads, a plurality of features, and visibility information for at least a first feature in the plurality of features. The computing device queries the map for visibility information for the first feature at a first position. The computing device, in response to querying the map, receives the visibility information for the first feature at the first position. The computing device selects a driving behavior for the vehicle based on the visibility information. The computing device controls the vehicle in accordance with the selected driving behavior.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

controlling, by a computing device, a vehicle on a road toward an upcoming intersection;

while controlling the vehicle on the road toward the upcoming intersection, the computing device accessing stored data that includes visibility information for the upcoming intersection and retrieving the visibility information for the upcoming intersection from the stored data, wherein the visibility information for the upcoming intersection includes data indicative of visibility of a particular feature at the upcoming intersection from each of a plurality of positions on the road; and

controlling, by the computing device, the vehicle to one of the plurality of positions on the road based on the retrieved visibility information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored data further includes a map associated with the visibility information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the visibility information for the upcoming intersection is retrieved based on map coordinates of the upcoming intersection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of positions on the road comprise a plurality of lanes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein controlling, by the computing device, the vehicle to one of the plurality of positions on the road based on the retrieved visibility information comprises:

controlling the vehicle from a first lane to a second lane based on the retrieved visibility information indicating that the particular feature is more visible in the second lane than in the first lane.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of positions on the road comprise a plurality of sub-lane positions within a lane.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular feature is a traffic sign or traffic signal.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions, comprising:

controlling a vehicle on a road toward an upcoming intersection;

while controlling the vehicle on the road toward the upcoming intersection, accessing stored data that includes visibility information for the upcoming intersection and retrieving the visibility information for the upcoming intersection from the stored data, wherein the visibility information for the upcoming intersection includes data indicative of visibility of a particular feature at the upcoming intersection from each of a plurality of positions on the road; and

controlling the vehicle to one of the plurality of positions on the road based on the retrieved visibility information.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the stored data further includes a map associated with the visibility information.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the visibility information for the upcoming intersection is retrieved based on map coordinates of the upcoming intersection.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the plurality of positions on the road comprise a plurality of lanes.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein controlling the vehicle to one of the plurality of positions on the road based on the retrieved visibility information comprises:

controlling the vehicle from a first lane to a second lane based on the retrieved visibility information indicating that the particular feature is more visible in the second lane than in the first lane.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the plurality of positions on the road comprise a plurality of sub-lane positions within a lane.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular feature is a traffic sign or traffic signal.

15. A computing device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory; and

instructions, stored in the memory, that when executed by the processor cause the computing device to perform functions comprising;

controlling a vehicle on a road toward an upcoming intersection;

while controlling the vehicle on the road toward the upcoming intersection, accessing stored data that includes visibility information for the upcoming intersection and retrieving the visibility information for the upcoming intersection from the stored data, wherein the visibility information for the upcoming intersection includes data indicative of visibility of a particular feature at the upcoming intersection from each of a plurality of positions on the road; and

controlling the vehicle to one of the plurality of positions on the road based on the retrieved visibility information.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the computing device is located in the vehicle.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the stored data is stored in the memory.

18. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of positions on the road comprising a plurality of lanes.

19. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of positions on the road comprise a plurality of sub-lane positions within a lane.

20. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the particular feature is a traffic sign or traffic signal.