Approach for consolidating observed vehicle trajectories into a single representative trajectory
View Patent ↗A method and apparatus is provided for controlling the operation of an autonomous vehicle. According to one aspect, the autonomous vehicle may track the trajectories of other vehicles on a road. Based on the other vehicle's trajectories, the autonomous vehicle may generate a pool of combined trajectories. Subsequently, the autonomous vehicle may select one of the combined trajectories as a representative trajectory. The representative trajectory may be used to change at least one of the speed or direction of the autonomous vehicle.
1. A method comprising:
tracking, with one or more processors, a plurality of road vehicles to obtain a plurality of observed trajectories, each one of the plurality of observed trajectories including locations passed by a given road vehicle from the plurality of road vehicles;
selecting, with the one or more processors, one of the plurality of observed trajectories as a base;
combining, with the one or more processors, the selected observed trajectory with one or more remaining trajectories in the plurality of observed trajectories;
generating, with the one or more processors, a new trajectory based on the combined trajectories; and
changing, with the one or more processors, at least one of a speed of the given road vehicle and a direction of the given road vehicle based on the new trajectory.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein combining the selected observed trajectory comprises identifying, for each location in the selected observed trajectory, locations in remaining ones of the plurality of observed trajectories that are within a predetermined distance from the location in the selected observed trajectory.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of generated trajectories is generated using an expectation-maximization (EM) process.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a plurality of new trajectories, wherein each of the plurality of generated trajectories uses a different observed trajectory as the base; and
selecting a first trajectory from the plurality of new generated trajectories.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a discontinuity in the selected first trajectory.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a characteristic of a curvature of the selected first trajectory.
7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining a current location of the vehicle; and
wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a distance between the current location and a location that is part of the selected first trajectory.
8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium on which computer readable instructions of a program are stored, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, the method comprising:
tracking a plurality of road vehicles to obtain a plurality of observed trajectories, each one of the plurality of observed trajectories including locations passed by a given road vehicle from the plurality of road vehicles;
selecting one of the plurality of observed trajectories as a base;
combining the selected observed trajectory with remaining ones in the plurality of observed trajectories;
generating a new trajectory based on the combined trajectories; and
changing at least one of a speed of the given road vehicle and a direction of the given road vehicle based on the new trajectory.
9. The medium of claim 8 , wherein combining the selected observed trajectory comprises identifying, for each location in the selected observed trajectory, locations in remaining ones of the plurality of observed trajectories that are within a predetermined distance from the location in the selected observed trajectory.
10. The medium of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of generated trajectories is generated using an expectation-maximization (EM) process.
11. The medium of claim 8 , further comprising:
generating a plurality of new trajectories, wherein each of the plurality of generated trajectories uses a different observed trajectory as the base; and
selecting a first trajectory from the plurality of new generated trajectories.
12. The medium of claim 11 , wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a discontinuity in the selected first trajectory.
13. The medium of claim 11 , wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a characteristic of a curvature of the selected first trajectory.
14. The medium of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a current location of the vehicle; and
wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a distance between the current location and a location that is part of the selected first trajectory.
15. A system comprising:
memory;
one or more processors in communication with the memory, the one or more processors configured to:
track a plurality of road vehicles to obtain a plurality of observed trajectories, each one of the plurality of observed trajectories including locations passed by a given road vehicle from the plurality of road vehicles;
select one of the plurality of observed trajectories as a base;
combine the selected observed trajectory with remaining ones in the plurality of observed trajectories;
generate a new trajectory based on the combined trajectories; and
change at least one of a speed of the given road vehicle and a direction of the given road vehicle based on the new trajectory.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein combining the selected observed trajectory comprises identifying, for each location in the selected observed trajectory, locations in remaining ones of the plurality of observed trajectories that are within a predetermined distance from the location in the selected observed trajectory.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of generated trajectories is generated using an expectation-maximization (EM) process.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
generate a plurality of new trajectories, wherein each of the plurality of generated trajectories uses a different observed trajectory as the base; and
select a first trajectory from the plurality of new generated trajectories.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a discontinuity in the selected first trajectory.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the selected first trajectory is selected based on a characteristic of a curvature of the selected first trajectory.