Autonomous vehicle operated with guide assistance of human driven vehicles

• US 9,933,779 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2016
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uatc, LLC (Uber Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Ross, William, Bares, John, LaRose, David, Sweeney, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Sweeney, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US15/264,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20170003681A1
• Time in Patent Office: 567 Days
• Field of Search: 701 25
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/00 Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/165 Automatically following the path of a preceding lead vehicle, e.g. "electronic tow-bar"
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/029 Adapting to failures or work around with other constraints, e.g. circumvention by avoiding use of failed parts
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9323 Alternative operation using light waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9324 Alternative operation using ultrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0022 characterised by the communication link data switching networks in general H04L12/00
• 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 1/0234 using optical markers or beacons optical beacons per se G01S1/70
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0287 involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/00 Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 : for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 : for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/22 : Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Examples described herein include an autonomous vehicle that receives guide assistance from a human driven vehicle in response to a determination that the autonomous vehicle cannot progress safely on its route.

Claims

1. A method for operating a computer system to remotely control at least some operations of an autonomous vehicle, the method being implemented by one or more processors and comprising:

determining, from information communicated by an autonomous vehicle over a wireless network link, when an ability of the autonomous vehicle to safely progress over a road segment of a planned route to a given location is below a threshold level of confidence;

identifying a second vehicle to guide the autonomous vehicle through at least a portion of the planned or current route; and

sending instructions over the wireless link to cause the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle to the given location.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a meeting location for the autonomous vehicle and the second vehicle; and

wherein sending the instructions includes instructing the autonomous vehicle to drive to the meeting location.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

tracking a position of the second vehicle as the second vehicle progresses to a meeting location; and

communicating the tracked position of the second vehicle to the autonomous vehicle.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein sending the instructions includes:

instructing the autonomous vehicle to wait for the second vehicle at the meeting location.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the autonomous vehicle to drive into traffic to initiate tracking of the second vehicle when the second vehicle is determined to be sufficiently near the autonomous vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an alternative route to the given location which avoids at least a portion of the road segment; and

communicating the alternative route to the second vehicle; and

wherein sending the instructions includes instructing the autonomous vehicle to follow the second vehicle to initiate the alternative route.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the instructions includes instructing the autonomous vehicle to stop at a current location of the autonomous vehicle, and to wait for the second vehicle to arrive or pass near the autonomous vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the instructions includes enabling the autonomous vehicle to identify the second vehicle when the second vehicle is near the autonomous vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein enabling the autonomous vehicle to identify the second vehicle includes providing the autonomous vehicle with a visual identifier of the second vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the instructions includes instructing the autonomous vehicle to switch on one or more lights.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a notification to the second vehicle which indicates that the autonomous vehicle is or will be tracking the second vehicle to the given location.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a record that identifies the road segment, and updating a map used by the autonomous vehicle to reflect the hazard.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the instructions to the autonomous vehicle includes instructing the autonomous vehicle to follow a protocol for detecting the second vehicle passing by the autonomous vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

communicating with the second vehicle to implement the protocol.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the instructions includes causing the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle in an alternative mode in which the second vehicle'"'"'s operation is authoritative over a default set of driving rules.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein causing the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle in the alternative mode includes causing the autonomous vehicle to commit a lane or turn violation in order to continue tracking the second vehicle.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the second vehicle includes selecting the selected vehicle from multiple possible vehicles based on an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle to a current or meeting location of the autonomous vehicle.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the second vehicle includes selecting one of multiple possible vehicles based on a comparison of a planned route of the second vehicle and a planned route of the autonomous vehicle.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining, from information communicated by an autonomous vehicle over a wireless network link, when an ability of the autonomous vehicle to safely progress over a road segment of a planned route to a given location is below a threshold level of confidence;

identifying a second vehicle to guide the autonomous vehicle through at least a portion of the planned or current route; and

sending instructions over the wireless link to cause the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle to the given location.

20. A computer system comprising:

a memory to store a set of instructions;

one or more processors to execute the instructions to;

determining, from information communicated by an autonomous vehicle over a wireless network link, when an ability of the autonomous vehicle to safely progress over a road segment of a planned route to a given location is below a threshold level of confidence;

identifying a second vehicle to guide the autonomous vehicle through at least a portion of the planned or current route; and

sending instructions over the wireless link to cause the autonomous vehicle to track the second vehicle to the given location.