Administering a recall by an autonomous vehicle

• US 9,709,984 B2
• Filed: 02/19/2014
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Global Technologies International Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte., Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Cudak, Gary D., Hardee, Christopher J., Rodriguez, Adrian X.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mawari, Redhwan K
• Assistant Examiner(s): King, Rodney P
• Application Number:
  US14/183,917
• Publication Number:
  US 20150235480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 701 2
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0027 involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

Administering a recall by an autonomous vehicle, including: receiving, by a vehicle management module, a recall message identifying a component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall; adjusting, by the vehicle management module, a vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall; determining, by the vehicle management module, a recall response plan in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability; and executing, by the vehicle management module, the recall response plan.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

by computer instructions on a computing device, receiving from a recall notification service external to an autonomous vehicle, a recall message identifying a component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall;

adjusting a vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall includes;

identifying a vehicle capability that is dependent upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall; and

adjusting a capability value for the identified vehicle capability;

determining, in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability, a recall response plan representing a course of action for responding to the recall message, wherein the recall response plan excludes actions that are associated with vehicle capability requirements that are not met by current vehicle capabilities of the vehicle including the adjusted vehicle capability; and

executing the recall response plan.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein adjusting the vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall further comprises disabling the vehicle capability.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the recall response plan in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability further comprises:

identifying a route for the autonomous vehicle to traverse in a self-driving mode; and

determining, in dependence upon one or more vehicle capabilities, whether the autonomous vehicle can traverse the route in the self-driving mode.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein determining whether the autonomous vehicle can traverse the route in the self-driving mode further comprises determining whether a length of the route exceeds a maximum travelling distance for the autonomous vehicle to travel in the self-driving mode.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a recall reset message; and

adjusting a vehicle capability in dependence upon the recall reset message.

6. An apparatus comprising a computer processor and a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

receiving from a recall notification service external to an autonomous vehicle, a recall message identifying a component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall;

adjusting a vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall includes;

identifying a vehicle capability that is dependent upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall; and

adjusting a capability value for the identified vehicle capability;

determining, in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability, a recall response plan representing a course of action for responding to the recall message, wherein the recall response plan excludes actions that are associated with vehicle capability requirements that are not met by current vehicle capabilities of the vehicle including the adjusted vehicle capability; and

executing the recall response plan.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein adjusting the vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall further comprises disabling the vehicle capability.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein determining the recall response plan in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability further comprises:

identifying a route for the autonomous vehicle to traverse in a self-driving mode; and

determining, in dependence upon one or more vehicle capabilities, whether the autonomous vehicle can traverse the route in the self-driving mode.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein determining whether the autonomous vehicle can traverse the route in the self-driving mode further comprises determining whether a length of the route exceeds a maximum travelling distance for the autonomous vehicle to travel in the self-driving mode.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

receiving a recall reset message; and

adjusting a vehicle capability in dependence upon the recall reset message.

11. A computer program product including a computer readable storage medium comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of:

receiving from a recall notification service external to the vehicle, a recall message identifying a component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall;

adjusting a vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall includes;

identifying a vehicle capability that is dependent upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall; and

adjusting a capability value for the identified vehicle capability;

determining, in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability, a recall response plan representing a course of action for responding to the recall message, wherein the recall response plan excludes actions that are associated with vehicle capability requirements that are not met by current vehicle capabilities of the vehicle including the adjusted vehicle capability; and

executing the recall response plan.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein adjusting the vehicle capability in dependence upon the component of the autonomous vehicle that is subject to the recall further comprises disabling the vehicle capability.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein determining the recall response plan in dependence upon the adjusted vehicle capability further comprises:

identifying a route for the autonomous vehicle to traverse in a self-driving mode; and

determining, in dependence upon one or more vehicle capabilities, whether the autonomous vehicle can traverse the route in the self-driving mode.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein determining whether the autonomous vehicle can traverse the route in the self-driving mode further comprises determining whether a length of the route exceeds a maximum travelling distance for the autonomous vehicle to travel in the self-driving mode.

15. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the computer to carry out the steps of:

receiving a recall reset message; and

adjusting a vehicle capability in dependence upon the recall reset message.