SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING A ROBOTIC STATUS OF A DRIVING VEHICLE

• US 20150158469A1
• Filed: 12/06/2013
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cheatham, Jesse R. III, Hyde, Roderick A., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,707,942 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/022 Collision avoidance systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/03 Brake assistants
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2250/00 Monitoring, detecting, estimating vehicle conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/12 for automatic initiation; for initiation not subject to will of driver or passenger limiting speed of vehicles other than rail vehicles B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/17558 specially adapted for collision avoidance or collision mitigation road vehicle drive control systems for collision avoidance otherwise than by controlling a particular sub-unit B60W30/09
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0095 Automatic control mode change
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/04 Traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention

Abstract

A system for assisting driving includes a robotic status component and a maneuver selection component. The robotic status component is configured to determine, within a first vehicle, robotic status information pertaining to a proximate second vehicle. The second vehicle includes a vehicle controlled independently of the first vehicle. The maneuver selection component is configured to select at least one driving maneuver based on the robotic status information using an automatic driving system of the first vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage medium comprising program code for causing one or more processors to perform a method, the method comprising:

determining, within a first vehicle, robotic status information pertaining to a proximate second vehicle, wherein the second vehicle is controlled independently of the first vehicle; and

selecting at least one driving maneuver based on the robotic status information using an automatic driving system of the first vehicle.

2. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises visually reading the robotic status information from the second vehicle.

4. The computer readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein visually reading the robotic status information comprises identifying a symbol on the second vehicle.

5. The computer readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein visually reading the robotic status information comprises identifying a barcode on the second vehicle.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises identifying a pointer corresponding to the second vehicle and locating the robotic status information within a database using the pointer.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that the second vehicle is at least partially controlled by a human driver.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that a collision avoidance system of the second vehicle is enabled.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication regarding which features of the second vehicle are currently under control of an automatic driving system.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that the automatic driving system of the second vehicle is configured to control steering of the second vehicle.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that the automatic driving system of the second vehicle is configured to control braking of the second vehicle.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a response time of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a type of sensor of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the robotic status information indicates that the automatic driving system of the second vehicle comprises a camera.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the robotic status information indicates that the automatic driving system of the second vehicle comprises a radar system.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the robotic status information indicates that the automatic driving system of the second vehicle comprises a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the robotic status information indicates that the automatic driving system of the second vehicle comprises an ultrasonic transducer.

33. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a manufacturer of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

37. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a presence of a human in the second vehicle.

38. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first vehicle and second vehicle do not have a previous control relationship prior to determining the robotic status information.

42. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one driving maneuver comprises selecting a collision avoidance maneuver based on the robotic status information.

43. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one driving maneuver comprises selecting a lane change maneuver based on the robotic status information.

49. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises storing an indication of the robotic status information and the at least one driving maneuver selected based on the robotic status information.

3. (canceled)

6-10. -10. (canceled)

13-17. -17. (canceled)

22. (canceled)

24-25. -25. (canceled)

31-32. -32. (canceled)

34-36. -36. (canceled)

39-41. -41. (canceled)

44-48. -48. (canceled)

50. A system comprising:

a robotic status component configured to determine, within a first vehicle, robotic status information pertaining to a proximate second vehicle, wherein the second vehicle is controlled independently of the first vehicle; and

a maneuver selection component configured to select at least one driving maneuver based on the robotic status information using an automatic driving system of the first vehicle.

57. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determines the robotic status information by detecting a radio signal comprising the robotic status information.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the radio signal comprises a signal broadcasted by the second vehicle.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the robotic status component determines the robotic status information by querying the second vehicle for the robotic status information and wherein the robotic status component detects the radio signal in response to querying the second vehicle.

65. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that an automatic driving system of the second vehicle is at least partially disabled.

66. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication regarding which features of the second vehicle are under control of a human driver.

67. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that the second vehicle is currently under control of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

68. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication that the second vehicle is currently controlled by an automatic driving system without real-time input from a human driver.

75. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a field of view of a sensor of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

76. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a range of a sensor of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

83. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a software version of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

85. The system of claim 50, wherein the robotic status component determining the robotic status information comprises obtaining an indication of a current value for an adjustable setting of an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

86. The system of claim 85, wherein the adjustable setting comprises a setting for a driving style for the automatic driving system

87. The system of claim 85, wherein the adjustable setting comprises a setting for whether the second vehicle will subordinate to other vehicles.

90. The system of claim 50, wherein the maneuver selection component selects the driving maneuvers independently of one of a human driver and an automatic driving system of the second vehicle.

91. The system of claim 50, wherein the maneuver selection component selects a maneuver to adjust a following distance based on the robotic status information.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein the maneuver selection component selects the maneuver to increase the following distance when the robotic status information indicates that the second vehicle is under manual control of a human driver.

96. The system of claim 50, further comprising a prediction component configured to predict a response time of the second vehicle based on the robotic status information, wherein the maneuver selection component selects a maneuver based on the prediction of the second vehicle'"'"'s response time

51-56. -56. (canceled)

60-64. -64. (canceled)

69-74. -74. (canceled)

77-82. -82. (canceled)

84. (canceled)

88-89. -89. (canceled)

93-95. -95. (canceled)

97-100. -100. (canceled)

101. A computer readable storage medium comprising program code for causing one or more processors to perform a method, the method comprising:

determining, within a first vehicle, a robotic status of a proximate second vehicle; and

notifying a human driver of the first vehicle of the robotic status.

104. The computer readable storage medium of claim 101, wherein notifying comprises generating a sound to notify the driver of the robotic status.

105. The computer readable storage medium of claim 101, wherein notifying comprises displaying a notification of the robotic status.

102-103. -103. (canceled)

106-118. -118. (canceled)