Internal safety systems for robotic vehicles

• US 9,939,817 B1
• Filed: 10/21/2016
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zoox Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Zoox Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kentley-Klay, Timothy David, Gamara, Rachad Youssef, Behere, Sagar
• Primary Examiner(s): Figueroa, Jaime
• Application Number:
  US15/299,985
• Time in Patent Office: 536 Days
• Field of Search: 701 1, 701 23, 700245
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/40 Working vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0007 Measures or means for preventing or attenuating collisions
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/04 Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/66 Arrangements of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/002 Seats provided with an occupancy detection means mounted therein or thereon detection means responsive to presence or absence of children B60N2/266
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/01566 key rotating about a vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/42709 involving residual deformation or fracture of the structure
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4279 electric or electronic triggering
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/26 the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/507 specific to autonomous vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/525 automatically indicating risk of collision between vehicles in traffic or with pedestrians, e.g. after risk assessment using the vehicle sensor data
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 5/006 indicating risk of collision between vehicles or with pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01272 Belt tensioners
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01 Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents electrical circuits for transmission of signals between steering wheel and the vehicle itself B60R16/027; for electrically actuating belt retractor locking means B60R22/343
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01512 Passenger detection systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01546 using belt buckle sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/04 including control of propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/30 including control of auxiliary equipment, e.g. air-conditioning compressors or oil pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2400/00 : Indexing codes relating to detected, measured or calculated conditions or factors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 : Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 : Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/54 : Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 : Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/20 : Static objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4023 : large-size vehicles, e.g. trucks
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4026 : Cycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4029 : Pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 : Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4044 : Direction of movement, e.g. backwards
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 : Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/06 : Combustion engines, Gas turbines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/08 : Electric propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/18 : Braking system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/20 : Steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/30 : Auxiliary equipments
• 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 30/09 : Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 : Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0956 : the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18 : Propelling the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0016 : of the vehicle or its occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0027 : using trajectory prediction for other traffic participants
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/32 : Structuring or formatting of map data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 : combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0018 : Transmission from mobile station to base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 : using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• 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 1/0055 : with safety arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0248 : in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0255 : using acoustic signals, e.g. ultra-sonic singals sonar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S15/93
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0257 : using a radar radar systems designed for anti-collision purposes between land vehicles or between land vehicle and fixed obstacles G01S13/931
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 : using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 : by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2201/0213 : Road vehicle, e.g. car or truck
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 : exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 : Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 : Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/04 : for teaching control of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/60 : Electric or hybrid propulsion means for production processes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 : Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

Systems, apparatus and methods implemented in algorithms, hardware, software, firmware, logic, or circuitry may be configured to process data and sensory input to determine whether an object external to an autonomous vehicle (e.g., another vehicle, a pedestrian, road debris, a bicyclist, etc.) may be a potential collision threat to the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle may be configured to implement interior active safety systems to protect passengers of the autonomous vehicle during a collision with an object or during evasive maneuvers by the autonomous vehicle, for example. The interior active safety systems may be configured to provide passengers with notice of an impending collision and/or emergency maneuvers by the vehicle by tensioning seat belts prior to executing an evasive maneuver and/or prior to a predicted point of collision.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

sensors operative to generate sensor data for an autonomous vehicle located within an environment, wherein at least one of the sensors includes a LIDAR sensor;

safety systems, including one or more interior safety systems, one or more exterior safety systems, and one or more drive systems; and

one or more processors configured to perform actions, including;

determining, based at least in part on a first portion of the sensor data, a location of the autonomous vehicle within the environment, wherein the location of the autonomous vehicle identifies one or more of a position or an orientation of the autonomous vehicle within the environment;

calculating, based at least in part on the location of the autonomous vehicle and at least a second portion of the sensor data, a trajectory of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the trajectory indicates a portion of a planned path associated with navigating the autonomous vehicle between at least a first location and a second location within the environment;

identifying, based at least in part on a third portion of the sensor data, an object within the environment;

determining a location of the object, wherein the location of the object identifies one or more of a position or an orientation of the object within the environment;

calculating, based at least in part on the location of the object, a trajectory of the object;

determining a threshold distance based at least in part on the trajectory of the autonomous vehicle and the trajectory of the object;

selecting a safety system to activate based at least in part on one or more of the object, the trajectory of the object, or the threshold distance; and

causing the safety system to be activated.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform further actions, including identifying an occurrence of a safety event from a plurality of safety related events, wherein the plurality of safety related events include a braking event and an acceleration event.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the safety systems include a braking system, a steering system, a propulsion system, a light emitter system, and an acoustic beam-steering array system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform further actions, including:

determining an object classification associated with the object,

wherein calculating the trajectory of the object is further based on the object classification.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform further actions, including causing the drive system of the autonomous vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver in combination with the safety system being activated.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein causing the safety system to be activated comprises causing an acoustic-beam steering array to direct a beam of acoustic energy toward the object within the environment.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the threshold distance comprises a first threshold distance and the safety system comprises a first safety system, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform further actions, including:

determining a second threshold distance based at least in part on the trajectory of the autonomous vehicle and the trajectory of the object; and

selecting a second safety system, from the safety systems, based at least in part on the second threshold distance, and

further wherein activating the second safety system comprises activating one or more of the first safety system or the second safety system based at least in part on the object location, the first threshold distance, or the second threshold distance.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the location of the object comprises a first location of the object and the position or the orientation of the object within the environment comprises a first position or a first orientation of the object within the environment, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform further actions, including:

determining a second location of the object, wherein the second location of the object identifies one or more of a second position or a second orientation of the object within the environment; and

determining that the second location of the object satisfies the threshold distance,

wherein selecting the safety system to activate is based at least in part on the second location of the object satisfying the threshold distance.

7. A method for vehicle safety system activation, comprising:

determining, based at least in part on a first portion of sensor data, a location of a vehicle within the environment, wherein the location of the vehicle identifies one or more of a position or an orientation of the vehicle within the environment;

calculating, based at least in part on the location of the vehicle and at least a second portion of the sensor data, a trajectory of the vehicle, wherein the trajectory indicates a subset of a planned path associated with navigating the vehicle between at least a first location and a second location within the environment;

identifying, based at least in part on a third portion of the sensor data, an object within the environment;

determining a location of the object, wherein the location of the object identifies one or more of a position or an orientation of the object within the environment;

determining an object classification associated with the object;

determining a trajectory of the object based at least in part on the location of the object and the object classification;

selecting, from the safety systems, a safety system to activate based at least in part on the trajectory of the vehicle and the trajectory of the object; and

causing the safety system to be activated.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising identifying an occurrence of a safety event from a plurality of safety related events, wherein the plurality of safety related events include a breaking event and an acceleration event.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the safety systems include a braking system, a steering system, a propulsion system, a light emitter system, and an acoustic beam-steering array system.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising causing a drive system of the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver in combination with the safety system being activated.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein causing the safety system to be activated comprises causing an acoustic-beam steering array to direct a beam of acoustic energy toward the object within the environment.

12. A method for vehicle safety system activation, comprising:

determining, based at least in part on a portion of sensor data, a location of a vehicle within the environment, wherein the location of the vehicle identifies one or more of a position or an orientation of the vehicle within the environment;

autonomously navigating the vehicle along a trajectory, wherein the trajectory indicates a subset of a planned path associated with navigating the vehicle between at least a first location and a second location within the environment;

determining a location of an object within the environment;

determining, based at least in part on the location of the object, a trajectory of the object;

selecting, based at least in part on one or more of the object, the location of the object, or the trajectory of the object, a safety system, wherein the safety system includes one or more of an interior safety, system or an exterior safety system; and

activating the safety system.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

causing the vehicle to perform a maneuver that changes at least a portion of the trajectory of the robot vehicle; and

wherein activating the safety system occurs during at least a portion of the maneuver.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, at a perception system of the vehicle, data representing a sensor signal, the sensor signal being generated by a sensor system of the vehicle;

generating at the perception system, based at least in part on the sensor signal, data representing object data indicative of an environment external to the vehicle; and

detecting, using at least a portion of the object data, the object within the environment.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising causing a drive system of the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver in combination with activating the safety system.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

predicting a collision between the vehicle and the object within the environment; and

causing the vehicle to perform an emergency maneuver.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining a threshold distance based at least in part on one or more of the trajectory of the vehicle, the trajectory of the object, the object, or the location of the object,

wherein selecting the safety system is based on the threshold distance.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the threshold distance comprises a first threshold distance and the safety system comprises a first safety system, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining a second threshold distance based at least in part on one or more of the trajectory of the vehicle, the trajectory of the object, the object, or the location of the object; and

selecting a second safety system based at least in part on the second threshold distance.