Determining driving paths for autonomous driving vehicles based on offset points

1. A method of operating an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising:

in response to a first reference line representing a route from a first location to a second location associated with an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), generating multiple sets of sample points based on the first reference line, wherein each set of sample points comprises a first subset of sample points and a second subset of sample points that are shifted to a right of the first subset of sample points along the first reference line, wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between each set of the multiple sets of sample points based on distance=(ADV_speed*speed_coefficient)+min_dist, wherein ADV_speed is a speed of the ADV, wherein speed_coefficient is a weight for the speed of the ADV, and wherein min_dist is a minimum distance between the multiple sets of sample points;

generating a plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points;

determining a path for the ADV based on the plurality of segments, wherein the path comprises one sample point from each of the multiple sets of sample points; and

controlling the autonomous driving vehicle based on the path.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between each of the multiple sets of sample points based on the speed of the ADV.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between subsets of the multiple sets of sample points based on the speed of the ADV.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first number of sample points in the first subset of sample points is less than or equal to a second number of sample points in the second subset of sample points.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first spacing of the first subset is less than or equal to a second spacing of the second subset.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

connecting each sample point in a set of sample points to each sample point in an adjacent set of sample points.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a plurality of polynomial functions for the plurality of segments, wherein each polynomial function represents one segment of the plurality of segments.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein coefficients of each polynomial are determined based on one or more of a location of the ADV, a direction of the ADV, a curvature of the ADV, or a curvature change rate of the ADV associated with a respective segment.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein each polynomial function comprises at least one of a quintic polynomial function or a cubic polynomial function.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the path for the ADV comprises:

determining a plurality of costs for the plurality of segments; and

determining the path based on the plurality of costs.

11. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

in response to a first reference line representing a route from a first location to a second location associated with an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), generating multiple sets of sample points based on the first reference line, wherein each set of sample points comprises a first subset of sample points and a second subset of sample points that are shifted to a right of the first subset of sample points along the first reference line, wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between each set of the multiple sets of sample points based on distance=(ADV_speed*speed_coefficient)+min_dist, wherein ADV_speed is a speed of the ADV, wherein speed_coefficient is a weight for the speed of the ADV, and wherein min_dist is a minimum distance between the multiple sets of sample points;

generating a plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points;

determining a path for the ADV based on the plurality of segments, wherein the path comprises one sample point from each of the multiple sets of sample points; and

controlling the autonomous driving vehicle based on the path.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between each of the multiple sets of sample points based on the speed of the ADV.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between subsets of the multiple sets of sample points based on the speed of the ADV.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein a first number of sample points in the first subset of sample points is less than or equal to a second number of sample points in the second subset of sample points.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein a first spacing of the first subset is less than or equal to a second spacing of the second subset.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein generating the plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

connecting each sample point in a set of sample points to each sample point in an adjacent set of sample points.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein generating the plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a plurality of polynomial functions for the plurality of segments, wherein each polynomial function represents one segment of the plurality of segments.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein coefficients of each polynomial are determined based on one or more of a location of the ADV, a direction of the ADV, a curvature of the ADV, or a curvature change rate of the ADV associated with a respective segment.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein determining the path for the ADV comprises:

determining a plurality of costs for the plurality of segments; and

determining the path based on the plurality of costs.

20. A data processing system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

in response to a first reference line representing a route from a first location to a second location associated with an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), generating multiple sets of sample points based on the first reference line, wherein each set of sample points comprises a first subset of sample points and a second subset of sample points that are shifted to a right of the first subset of sample points along the first reference line, wherein generating the multiple sets of sample points comprises:

determining a distance between each set of the multiple sets of sample points based on distance=(ADV_speed*speed_coefficient)+min_dist, wherein ADV_speed is a speed of the ADV, wherein speed_coefficient is a weight for the speed of the ADV, and wherein min_dist is a minimum distance between the multiple sets of sample points;

generating a plurality of segments between the multiple sets of sample points;

determining a path for the ADV based on the plurality of segments, wherein the path comprises one sample point from each of the multiple sets of sample points; and

controlling the autonomous driving vehicle based on the path.