Systems and methods for using multiple vehicles to increase confidence level

1 . A method of controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

collecting perception data representing a perceived environment of a first vehicle using a perception system on board the first vehicle while the first vehicle is traveling along a roadway in the perceived environment, the perception data further including at least some data collected by a second vehicle traveling along the roadway;

comparing the perception data collected with digital map data stored on the first vehicle;

determining a confidence level based on the comparing; and

in response to the confidence level for the first vehicle being below a threshold:

providing comparison data associated with the comparison between the perception data collected and the digital map data stored on the first vehicle to a server remote from the first vehicle; and

modifying operation of the first vehicle and operation of the second vehicle, based on the comparison data, modifying the operation of the first vehicle and the second vehicle further comprising:

causing one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to stop and collect additional perception data to increase the confidence level while the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle is stopped;

causing the other of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to drive past the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and collect the additional perception data to further increase the confidence level; and

repeating causing the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and causing the other of the first vehicle and the second vehicle until the confidence level is at or above the threshold.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data collected by the second vehicle is collected after the first vehicle has modified its operation by implementing more conservative driving as a function of the difference between the perception data and the digital map data.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the data collected by the second vehicle is collected from the perceived environment at a location further along a travel path of the first vehicle.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the operation of the first vehicle or the second vehicle is also based on a type of difference between the perception data collected by the first and second vehicles and the digital map data.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the perception data further includes data related to one or more ambient vehicles in the environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the perception data related to the one or more ambient vehicles in the environment develops one or more road rules in at least one of the first vehicle or the second vehicle.

7 . A method of operating a fleet of vehicles in an environment including a first vehicle and a second vehicle, comprising:

collecting perception data representing a perceived environment using a perception system on board the first vehicle while the first vehicle is traveling along a roadway in the perceived environment, the perception data further including at least some data collected by a second vehicle traveling along the roadway;

comparing the perception data collected by the first vehicle with stored digital map data;

determining a confidence level based on the comparing;

modifying the confidence level based on a difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data, wherein the confidence level represents a confidence that the perceived environment is accurately identified and aligned with a representation of the perceived environment in the stored digital map data;

in response to the modified confidence level for the first vehicle being below a threshold:

presenting the difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data to an external server remote from the first vehicle;

modifying operation of the first vehicle and operation of the second vehicle based on the difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data presented to the external server, modifying the operation of the first vehicle and the operation of the second vehicle further comprising:

causing one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to stop and collect additional perception data to increase the confidence level while the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle is stopped;

causing the other of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to drive past the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and collect the additional perception data to further increase the confidence level; and

repeating causing the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and causing the other of the first vehicle and the second vehicle until the confidence level is at or above the threshold;

collecting perception data representing the perceived environment using the perception system on board the second vehicle; and

modifying the confidence level based on a difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

modifying the confidence level based on a difference between the perception data collected by the first vehicle and the perception data collected by the second vehicle.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein modifying the operation of the first vehicle and the operation of the second vehicle includes implementing more conservative driving of the respective vehicle as a function of an amount of difference between the perception data and the digital map data.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the more conservative driving includes at least one of i) slowing a speed of at least one of the first vehicle or the second vehicle, or ii) prohibiting lane changes of at least one of the first vehicle or the second vehicle.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the collected perception data includes data collected representing road behavior of ambient vehicles in the environment.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein each of the first vehicle and the second vehicle operate with all necessary perception, localization, and vehicle control software and data necessary to operate fully autonomously.

13 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first vehicle and the second vehicle are configured such that they need only to connect to the external server when the confidence level of either of the first vehicle and the second vehicle is below the threshold.

14 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the system is further configured to automatically adjust a confidence level of the second vehicle based on a degraded confidence level of the first vehicle.

15 . The method of claim 7 , wherein modifying the operation of the first vehicle and the operation of the second vehicle is also based on a type of difference between the perception data and the digital map data.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein a type of difference includes differences between perceived objects and perceived features of a roadway, and modification of operation of at least one of the first vehicle or the second vehicle is more conservative when the type of difference is based on perceived features of the roadway.

17 . A system comprising:

a first vehicle and a second vehicle, each of the first vehicle and the second vehicle including a perception system, a mapping/localization system, a processor, and a memory storing one or more processor-executable instructions, that when executed by the processor cause the system to:

collect perception data representing a perceived environment using the perception system on board the first vehicle while the first vehicle is traveling along a roadway in the perceived environment, the perception data further including at least some data collected by a second vehicle traveling along the roadway;

compare the perception data collected by the first vehicle with stored digital map data;

determine a confidence level based on the comparison;

modify the confidence level based on a difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data, wherein the confidence level represents a confidence that the perceived environment is accurately identified and aligned with a representation of the perceived environment in the stored digital map data;

in response to the modified confidence level for the first vehicle being below a threshold:

present the difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data to an external server remote from the first vehicle;

modify operation of the first vehicle and operation of the second vehicle based on the difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data presented to the external server, modify the operation of the first vehicle and the second vehicle further comprising:

cause one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to stop and collect additional perception data to increase the confidence level while the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle is stopped;

cause the other of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to drive past the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and collect the additional perception data to further increase the confidence level; and

repeat cause the one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and cause the other of the first vehicle and the second vehicle until the confidence level is at or above the threshold;

collect perception data representing the perceived environment using the perception system on board the second vehicle; and

modify the confidence level based on a difference between the collected perception data and the stored digital map data.

18 . The system of claim 17 , further comprising automatically adjusting a confidence level of the second vehicle based on a degraded confidence level of the first vehicle.

19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein each of the first vehicle and the second vehicle operate with all necessary perception, localization, and vehicle control software and data necessary to operate fully autonomously.