Engaging and disengaging for autonomous driving

• US 10,000,216 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2017
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Cullinane, Brian Douglas, Nemec, Philip, Clement, Manuel Christian, Mariet, Robertus Christianus Elisabeth, Jonsson, Lilli Ing-Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Camby, Richard M
• Application Number:
  US15/785,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20180043904A1
• Time in Patent Office: 245 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/172 Driving mode indication
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/175 Autonomous driving
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/023 for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4866 Displaying or indicating arrangements thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/48 Control systems, alarms, or interlock systems, for the correct application of the belt or harness
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/105 using multiple cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0002 Automatic control, details of type of controller or control system architecture
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/045 Occupant permissions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/16 Ratio selector position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/215 Selection or confirmation of options
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/229 Attention level, e.g. attentive to driving, reading or sleeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/00 Input parameters relating to infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/30 Road curve radius
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/53 Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 : Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 : Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/00 : Input parameters relating to data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 : External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 : of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• 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 50/082 : Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0051 : from occupants to vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0053 : from vehicle to occupant
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0059 : Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 : for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 : with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0223 : involving speed control of the vehicle vehicle fittings for automatically controlling, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator B60K31/00

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure relate switching between autonomous and manual driving modes. In order to do so, the vehicle'"'"'s computer may conduct a series of environmental, system, and driver checks to identify certain conditions. The computer may correct some of these conditions and also provide a driver with a checklist of tasks for completion. Once the tasks have been completed and the conditions are changed, the computer may allow the driver to switch from the manual to the autonomous driving mode. The computer may also make a determination, under certain conditions, that it would be detrimental to the driver'"'"'s safety or comfort to make a switch from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by one or more processors, one or more conditions which prevent a vehicle from autonomously transport a passenger to a location;

generating, by the one or more processors, a set of tasks based on the one or more conditions for addressing the one or more conditions, the set of tasks including a first task corresponding to putting the vehicle into a particular operation mode;

displaying, by the one or more processors on a display of the vehicle, to the passenger a request to complete the first task; and

only upon determining that all of the tasks of the set of tasks are completed, including that the passenger has put the vehicle into the particular operation mode, allowing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle to autonomously transport the passenger to a location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the passenger has put the vehicle into the particular operation mode corresponds to a change in a position of a gear shift of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions correspond to an assessment that a vehicle door is open, the set of tasks includes a second task corresponding to a status of the door, and the method further comprises, display on the display to the passenger a request to complete the second task.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein generating the set of tasks includes determining a priority for the first task and a priority for the second task, and wherein the request to complete the first task and the request to complete the second task are displayed based on the priority for the first task and the priority for the second task.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying, by the one or more processors, each of the request to complete the first task and the request to complete the second task at different times such that when a first of the request to complete the first task or the request to complete the second task is displayed, the one or more processors wait until one of the first task or second task is completed before displaying a second of the request to complete the first task or the request to complete the second task according to the priority for the first task and the priority for the second task.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying each of the request to complete the first task and the request to complete the second task are displayed at the same time.

7. The method of claim 3, identifying the one or more conditions is based on feedback from a sensor of the door.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions correspond to an assessment that a vehicle door is improperly closed, the set of tasks includes a second task corresponding to a status of the door, and the method further comprises, display on the display to the passenger a request to complete the second task.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions relate to a status of the vehicle, and the method further comprises changing the status of the vehicle when the passenger has put the vehicle into the particular operation mode.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving a request for the vehicle to autonomously transport the passenger to a location, and wherein the allowing is further performed in response to the received request.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the request corresponds to the passenger using a user input of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user input is a button of the vehicle.

13. A system comprising one or more processors configured to:

identify one or more conditions which prevent a vehicle from autonomously transport a passenger to a location;

generating a set of tasks based on the one or more conditions for addressing the one or more conditions, the set of tasks including a first task corresponding to putting the vehicle into a particular operation mode;

display, on a display of the vehicle, to the passenger a request to complete the first task; and

only upon determining that all of the tasks of the set of tasks are completed, including that the passenger has put the vehicle into the particular operation mode, allowing the vehicle to autonomously transport the passenger to a location.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the passenger has put the vehicle into the particular operation mode corresponds to a change in a position of a gear shift of the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more conditions correspond to an assessment that a door of the vehicle is open, the set of tasks includes a second task corresponding to a status of the door, and the one or more processors are further configured to display on the display to the passenger a request to complete the second task.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein generating the set of tasks includes determining a priority for the first task and a priority for the second task, and wherein the request to complete the first task and the request to complete the second task are displayed based on the priority for the first task and the priority for the second task.

17. The system of claim 16, the one or more processors are further configured to display each of the request to complete the first task and the request to complete the second task at different times such that when a first of the request to complete the first task or the request to complete the second task is displayed, the one or more processors wait until one of the first task or second task is completed before displaying a second of the request to complete the first task or the request to complete the second task according to the priority for the first task and the priority for the second task.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more conditions relate to a status of the vehicle, and the one or more processors are further configured to change the status of the vehicle when the passenger has put the vehicle into the particular operation mode.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising a button input for configured to activate an autonomous driving mode of the vehicle.

20. The system of claim 13, further comprising the vehicle.