IP Library Granted Patent US 10,126,742
Granted Patent B2
US 10,126,742 · App. 15/349,793 · Granted Nov 13, 2018

Autonomous vehicle operated with guide assistance of human driven vehicles

Inventors: William Ross (Pittsburgh, PA); John Bares (Pittsburgh, PA); David LaRose (Pittsburgh, PA); Matthew Sweeney (Pittsburgh, PA)
Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
G05D1/0027B60W30/00B60W30/165B60W50/029G01C21/34G05D1/0022G05D1/0234G05D1/0274G05D1/0278G05D1/0287G06K9/00791G08B25/00G08G1/0962G08G1/161G08G1/22G01S13/867G01S2013/936G01S2013/9357G01S2013/9364G01S2013/9367G05D2201/0213G08G1/165G08G1/166H04L67/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,126,742
App. No.
15/349,793
Granted
Nov 13, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

Sensor information is collected from human driven vehicles which are driven in a given region. From the sensor information, a road condition is detected on a road segment, where the road condition has a sufficiently high likelihood of impairing autonomous vehicles in safely navigating through the one or more road segments. Information about the one or more road segments is communicated to the one or more autonomous vehicles.

Claims (35)

1. A method for operating a computer system to guide an autonomous vehicle, the method being implemented by one or more processors of the computer system and comprising:

receiving, over a network, sensor information collected from one or more sensors of a human-driven vehicle driven in a given region;

determining, from the sensor information, a road segment in the given region which has a road condition with a likelihood of impairing the autonomous vehicle in safely navigating the road segment;

analyzing the sensor information to determine a plurality of driving operations performed by the human-driven vehicle when navigating the road segment; and

communicating instructions, over the network, to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment, the instructions based on the plurality of driving operations performed by the human-driven vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are authoritative over a default set of driving rules for the autonomous vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a record that identifies the road segment which has the road condition with the likelihood of impairing the autonomous vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

updating a map of the given region based on the record, and communicating at least an updated portion of the map to a network service.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining one or more attributes of the road condition, including an estimated time or duration for when the road condition is present on the road segment.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating the instructions to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment is performed at a transport arrangement system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating the instructions to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment is performed by the human-driven vehicle.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, over a network, sensor information collected from one or more sensors of a human-driven vehicle driven in a given region;

determining, from the sensor information, a road segment in the given region which has a road condition with a likelihood of impairing an autonomous vehicle in safely navigating the road segment;

analyzing the sensor information to determine a plurality of driving operations performed by the human-driven vehicle when navigating the road segment; and

communicating instructions, over the network, to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment, the instructions based on the plurality of driving operations performed by the human-driven vehicle.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are authoritative over a default set of driving rules for the autonomous vehicle.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , storing further instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

generating a record that identifies the road segment which has the road condition with the likelihood of impairing the autonomous vehicle.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , storing further instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

updating a map of the given region based on the record, and communicating at least an updated portion of the map to a network service.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , storing further instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining one or more attributes of the road condition, including an estimated time or duration for when the road condition is present on the road segment.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein communicating the instructions to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment is performed at a transport arrangement system.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein communicating the instructions to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment is performed at a transport arrangement system is performed by the human-driven vehicle.

15. A computer system comprising:

a memory to store a set of instructions;

one or more processors to execute the set of instructions to:

receive, over a network, sensor information collected from one or more sensors of a human-driven vehicle driven in a given region;

determine, from the sensor information, a road segment in the given region which has a road condition with a likelihood of impairing an autonomous vehicle in safely navigating the road segment;

analyze the sensor information to determine a plurality of driving operations performed by the human-driven vehicle when navigating the road segment; and

communicate instructions, over the network, to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate the road segment, the instructions based on the plurality of driving operations performed by the human-driven vehicle.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 14, 2024
From: UATC, LLC
To: AURORA OPERATIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 067733/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 29, 2024
From: ROSS, WILLIAM; BARES, JOHN; LAROSE, DAVID; SWEENEY, MATTHEW
To: UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 066952/0785 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE FROM CHANGE OF NAME TO ASSIGNMENT PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 050353 FRAME 0884. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE CORRECT CONVEYANCE SHOULD BE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 27, 2019
From: UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: UATC, LLC
Reel/Frame 051145/0001 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Sep 12, 2019
From: UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: UATC, LLC
Reel/Frame 050353/0884 →
Continuity (2)
Division 14711506 · May 13, 2015
Related Publication 20170060129A1 · Mar 2, 2017
Cited By (2)
US 12,384,410 US 12,560,932