Speed behavior planning for vehicles

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, signals from one or more sensors over a period of time, wherein each signal represents current information about a speed behavior factor indicative of a current speed behavior of a vehicle being driven;

determining, by the one or more processors and based on the signals, a function representing an amount of jerk of the vehicle over the period of time;

optimizing, by the one or more processors and using a second derivative of a speed of the vehicle and another speed behavior factor, the function to determine a plurality of candidate speed behaviors associated with the speed behavior factor by concatenating speed limits along a trajectory;

deriving, by the one or more processors, a definitive speed behavior by using the plurality of candidate speed behaviors, wherein the deriving includes smoothing at least one speed discontinuity between two concatenated speed limits along the trajectory; and

operating, by the one or more processors, a driving component of the vehicle in accordance with the definitive speed behavior.

2. The method of claim 1 , in which the other speed behavior factor comprises a non-numerical speed behavior factor.

3. The method of claim 1 , in which the speed behavior factor comprises one or more of a legal specification for speed requirement at a particular point in a trajectory of the vehicle or a user preference indicating a preferred maximum speed of the vehicle while the vehicle is on the trajectory, wherein the speed behavior factor further comprises one or more of the following: a moving object, an event, a mechanical limitation of the vehicle, a condition of a vehicle component, a weather condition, an occlusion, or a road feature.

4. The method of claim 1 , in which the plurality of candidate speed behaviors comprises a plurality of speed limits, wherein the definitive candidate behavior is a particular speed limit determined based on the plurality of speed limits.

5. The method of claim 1 , in which the candidate speed behaviors are determined for a trajectory on which the vehicle is being driven, wherein the definitive speed behavior is determined for the trajectory.

6. The method of claim 1 , in which at least one of the optimizing to determine the plurality of candidate speed behaviors or the deriving of the definitive speed behavior is performed in a spatial domain or a time domain or both.

7. The method of claim 1 , in which determining the plurality of candidate speed behaviors comprises identifying a minima of aggregation of one or more speed limits.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deriving of the definitive speed behavior by using the plurality of speed behaviors comprises:

selecting, by the one or more processors, the definitive speed behavior from the adjusted plurality of candidate behaviors.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deriving of the definitive speed behavior by using the plurality of speed behaviors comprises:

using a queueing process to hold and arrange the plurality of candidate speed behaviors in a queue, wherein the plurality of candidate speed behaviors are arranged in the queue according to at least one of time or space; and

selecting the definitive speed behavior from the queue.

10. The method of claim 1 , in which deriving the definitive speed behavior comprises analyzing past driven speed behaviors among the plurality of candidate speed behaviors.

11. The method of claim 1 , in which deriving the definitive speed behavior comprises analyzing past speed behaviors among the plurality of candidate speed behaviors.

12. The method of claim 1 , in which deriving the definitive speed behavior comprises analyzing a current speed of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 1 , in which deriving the definitive speed behavior comprises maximizing a driving distance of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 1 , in which deriving the definitive speed behavior comprises minimizing a driving time.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driving component of the vehicle is one or more of an acceleration component, a steering component, or a deceleration component.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a visualization of the definitive speed behavior.

17. A vehicle comprising:

driving components including an acceleration component, a steering component, and a deceleration component;

a planning component to:

receive signals from one or more sensors over a period of time, wherein each signal represents current information about a speed behavior factor indicative of a current speed behavior of the vehicle,

determine, based on the signals, a function representing an amount of jerk of the vehicle over the period of time;

optimize, using a second derivative of a speed of the vehicle and another speed behavior factor, the function to determine a plurality of candidate speed behaviors associated with the speed behavior factor by concatenation of speed limits along a trajectory; and

derive a definitive speed behavior based on the plurality of candidate speed behaviors, wherein the derivation includes smoothing at least one speed discontinuity between two concatenated speed limits along the trajectory; and

a command component to cause at least one of the driving components to move the vehicle according to the definitive speed behavior.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a storage for instructions; and

one or more processors that, when provided the instructions, operate in accordance with the instructions to perform operations comprising:

receiving signals from one or more sensors over a period of time, wherein each signal represents current information about a speed behavior factor indicative of a current speed behavior of a vehicle being driven;

determining, based on the signals, a function representing an amount of jerk of the vehicle over the period of time;

optimizing, using a second derivative of a speed of the vehicle and another speed behavior factor, the function to determine a plurality of candidate speed behaviors associated with the speed behavior factor by concatenating speed limits along a trajectory;

deriving a definitive speed behavior by using the plurality of candidate speed behaviors, wherein the deriving includes smoothing at least one speed discontinuity between two concatenated speed limits along the trajectory; and

operating a driving component of the vehicle in accordance with the definitive speed behavior.