Positioning autonomous vehicles based on field of view

• US 9,604,642 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2014
• Issued: 03/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• 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., Dean, David G., Hardee, Christopher J., Lohmeyer, William E. Jr., Reese, Bryan M., Weber, J. Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): PECHE, JORGE O
• Application Number:
  US14/264,808
• Publication Number:
  US 20150309510A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/23, 701/28, 701/96, 701/300, 701/301, 348/48, 348/148, 382/104, 340/436, 340/903
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/30 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2756/10 Involving external transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Positioning autonomous vehicles based on field of view, including: identifying, by a vehicle management module, one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle, each critical sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle; determining, by the vehicle management module, physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles; determining, by the vehicle management module in dependence upon the physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles, whether one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle; and responsive to determining that one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the area of space surrounding the subject vehicle, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

by computer program instructions on a computing device;

identifying one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle including determining an angle between one of one or more sensors of the subject vehicle and a portion of one of one or more blocking vehicles blocking the one or more sensors, wherein each critical sight line represents a boundary of an area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle and identifies a line between the one or more sensors and edges of the one or more blocking vehicles, the edges of the one or more blocking vehicles blocking the one or more sensors from monitoring a section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles relative to the one or more sensors;

determining physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles;

determining, in dependence upon the physical location information for the one or more surrounding vehicles, whether the one or more of the surrounding vehicles are located within the section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles; and

responsive to determining that the one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles in dependence upon the critical sight lines and the received physical location information for the one or more surrounding vehicles.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises receiving information from one or more sensors mounted on the subject vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises identifying one or more static object sight lines, each static object sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle for sensing static objects.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising distributing navigation information to one or more autonomous vehicles.

5. 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:

identifying one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle including determining an angle between one of one or more sensors of the subject vehicle and a portion of one of one or more blocking vehicles blocking the one or more sensors, wherein each critical sight line represents a boundary of an area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle and identifies a line between the one or more sensors and edges of the one or more blocking vehicles, the edges of the one or more blocking vehicles blocking the one or more sensors from monitoring a section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles relative to the one or more sensors;

determining physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles;

determining, in dependence upon the physical location information for the one or more surrounding vehicles, whether the one or more of the surrounding vehicles are located within the section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles; and

responsive to determining that the one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles in dependence upon the critical sight lines and the received physical location information for the one or more surrounding vehicles.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises receiving information from one or more sensors mounted on the subject vehicle.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises identifying one or more static object sight lines, each static object sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle for sensing static objects.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the step of distributing navigation information to one or more autonomous vehicles.

9. A computer program product including a computer readable storage medium that is not a signal, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of:

identifying one or more critical sight lines for a subject vehicle including determining an angle between one of one or more sensors of the subject vehicle and a portion of one of one or more blocking vehicles blocking the one or more sensors, wherein each critical sight represents a boundary of an area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle and identifies a line between the one or more sensors and edges of the one or more blocking vehicles, the edges of the one or more blocking vehicles blocking the one or more sensors from monitoring a section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles relative to the one or more sensors;

determining physical location information for one or more surrounding vehicles;

determining, in dependence upon the physical location information for the one or more surrounding vehicles, whether the one or more of the surrounding vehicles are located within the section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles; and

responsive to determining that the one or more surrounding vehicles are located within the section of the area of space adjacent to the subject vehicle located on the opposite side of the one or more blocking vehicles, altering a location of the subject vehicle relative to at least one of the surrounding vehicles in dependence upon the critical sight lines and the received physical location information for the one or more surrounding vehicles.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises receiving information from one or more sensors mounted on the subject vehicle.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein identifying one or more critical sight lines for the subject vehicle further comprises identifying one or more static object sight lines, each static object sight line representing a boundary of an area of space surrounding the subject vehicle for sensing static objects.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the computer to carry out the step of distributing, by the vehicle management module, navigation information to one or more autonomous vehicles.