Scenario based audible warnings for autonomous vehicles

• US 9,868,391 B1
• Filed: 02/26/2016
• Issued: 01/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Fairfield, Nathaniel, Charrow, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Mancho, Ronnie
• Application Number:
  US15/054,958
• Time in Patent Office: 690 Days
• Field of Search: 701 25
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 5/005 automatically actuated
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/402 Type
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4042 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0956 the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to providing audible indications to objects located externally to a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode. For instance, a vehicle is controlled in the autonomous driving mode along a particular path. Information identifying a characteristic and a location of an object is received. When vehicle is determined to be prevented from proceeding along the particular path because of the location of the object, a scenario is identified using the characteristic. The scenario is associated with a predetermined period of time and a type of audible indication used to identify an audible indication. After the waiting the predetermined period, when the object is determined to still be preventing the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path, the audible indication is played through a speaker of the vehicle to encourage the object to take an action to allow the vehicle to proceed along the particular path.

Claims

1. A method of providing audible indications to objects located externally to a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode, the method comprising:

controlling, by one or more processors, the vehicle in the autonomous driving mode along a particular path;

receiving, by the one or more processors, information identifying a characteristic of an object and a location of the object external to the vehicle;

determining, by the one or more processors, that the vehicle is prevented from proceeding along the particular path because of the location of the object;

when the vehicle is determined to be prevented from proceeding, identifying, by the one or more processors, a scenario from a set of predetermined scenarios using the characteristic, each scenario of the set of predetermined scenarios being associated with a predetermined period of time and a type of audible indication;

waiting, by the one or more processors, the predetermined period of time associated with the identified scenario;

after the waiting the predetermined period of time associated with the identified scenario, determining, by the one or more processors, that the object continues to prevent the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path;

identifying, by the one or more processors, an audible indication according to the type of audible indication associated with the identified scenario; and

when the object is determined to continue to prevent the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path, playing, by the one or more processors, the audible indication through a speaker of the vehicle to encourage the object to take an action to allow the vehicle to proceed along the particular path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the characteristic also indicates that the object is currently stationary.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information identifying the characteristic also indicates that the object is another vehicle.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the information identifying the characteristic also indicates that the object is a pedestrian.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the information identifying the characteristic also indicates that the object is a bicyclist.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the object is currently not being blocked by another object that would prevent the object from proceeding.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a same lane as the vehicle and within the particular path.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the object includes the status of a turn signal of the object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a particular traffic signal light, and the method further comprises:

determining that the status of the particular traffic signal indicates that the object currently has a right of way, and

wherein the scenario is identified further based on the status of the particular traffic signal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a particular stop sign, and the method further comprises:

determining that the object currently has a right to proceed despite the presence of the stop sign, and

wherein the scenario is identified further based on the stop sign.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a particular yield sign, and the method further comprises:

determining that the object currently has a right to proceed despite the presence of the yield sign, and

wherein the scenario is identified further based on the yield sign.

12. A system for providing audible indications to objects located externally to a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode, the system comprising:

one or more processors configured to;

control the vehicle in the autonomous driving mode along a particular path;

receive information identifying a characteristic of an object and a location of the object external to the vehicle;

determine that the vehicle is prevented from proceeding along the particular path because of the location of the object;

when the vehicle is determined to be prevented from proceeding, identify a scenario from a set of predetermined scenarios using the characteristic, each scenario of the set of predetermined scenarios being associated with a predetermined period of time and a type of audible indication;

wait the predetermined period of time associated with the identified scenario;

after the waiting the predetermined period of time associated with the identified scenario, determine that the object continues to prevent the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path;

identify an audible indication according to the type of audible indication associated with the identified scenario; and

when the object is determined to continue to prevent the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path, play the audible indication through a speaker of the vehicle to encourage the object to take an action to allow the vehicle to proceed along the particular path.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine that the object is currently not being blocked by another object that would prevent the object from proceeding.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a same lane as the vehicle and within the particular path.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic of the object includes the status of a turn signal of the object.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a particular traffic signal light, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that the status of the particular traffic signal indicates that the object currently has a right of way, and

identify the scenario further based on the status of the particular traffic signal.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a particular stop sign, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that the object currently has a right to proceed despite the presence of the stop sign, and

identify the scenario further based on the stop sign.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the location of the object corresponds to a particular yield sign, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

determining that the object currently has a right to proceed despite the presence of the yield sign, and

identifying the scenario further based on the yield sign.

19. The system of claim 12, further comprising the vehicle and the speaker.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which instructions are stored, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method of providing audible indications to objects located externally to a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode, the method comprising:

controlling the vehicle in the autonomous driving mode along a particular path;

receiving information identifying a characteristic of an object and a location of the object external to the vehicle;

determining that the vehicle is prevented from proceeding along the particular path because of the location of the object;

when the vehicle is determined to be prevented from proceeding, identifying a scenario from a set of predetermined scenarios using the characteristic, each scenario of the set of predetermined scenarios being associated with a predetermined period of time and a type of audible indication;

waiting the predetermined period of time associated with the identified scenario;

after the waiting the predetermined period of time associated with the identified scenario, determining that the object continues to prevent the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path;

identifying an audible indication according to the type of audible indication associated with the identified scenario; and

when the object is determined to continue to prevent the vehicle from proceeding along the particular path, playing the audible indication through a speaker of the vehicle to encourage the object to take an action to allow the vehicle to proceed along the particular path.