Methods and devices for autonomous vehicle operation

1. A device for controlling an autonomous vehicle, the device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory including instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

detect that the autonomous vehicle has one or more malfunctioning components;

determine, in response to the detection, a likelihood that the autonomous vehicle is able to reach a desired stop location based on one or more factors associated with the one or more malfunctioning components;

determine at least one maneuver for the autonomous vehicle based on the determined likelihood; and

cause the autonomous vehicle to perform the determined at least one maneuver,

wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine the at least one maneuver to be one or more first maneuvers toward the desired stop location when the determined likelihood is at or above a threshold, and

wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine, when the likelihood is at or below the threshold, whether the autonomous vehicle is operable in a degraded driving mode based on the one or more factors.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to continuously update the determined likelihood while the autonomous vehicle performs the one or more first maneuvers.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to turn off the autonomous vehicle when the autonomous vehicle reaches the desired stop location.

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein the one or more factors are stored in a table on the memory, and wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to access the table to determine the likelihood.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine the at least one maneuver to be one or more second maneuvers toward a destination different than the desired stop location when the processor determines that the autonomous vehicle is operable in the degraded driving mode.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine the at least one maneuver to be a stop operation that causes the autonomous vehicle to stop when the processor determines that the autonomous vehicle is not operable in the degraded driving mode.

7. The device of claim 5 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to continuously update the determined likelihood while the autonomous vehicle performs at least one of the one or more first maneuvers or the one or more second maneuvers, and to determine whether to change the determined at least one maneuver based on the continuously updated determined likelihood.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more factors include at least one of an indication of a type of the one or more malfunctioning components, an indication of a type of malfunction of the one or more malfunctioning components, or an indication of a current effect or an anticipated effect of the type of malfunction on the autonomous vehicle.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine the desired stop location based on at least one of sensed or received environmental surroundings of the autonomous vehicle.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more factors are stored in a table on the memory, and wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to access the table to determine the likelihood.

11. A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:

detecting that the autonomous vehicle has one or more malfunctioning components;

determining, in response to the detection, a likelihood that the autonomous vehicle is able to reach a desired stop location based on one or more factors associated with the one or more malfunctioning components, wherein the one or more factors include a safety score for each of the one or more malfunctioning components, wherein each safety score is indicative of an importance of a respective malfunctioning component to an operation of the autonomous vehicle;

determining, when the determined likelihood is at or below a threshold, whether the autonomous vehicle is operable in a degraded driving mode based on the one or more factors; and

determining at least one maneuver for the autonomous vehicle based on the determined likelihood;

causing the autonomous vehicle to perform the determined at least one maneuver.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more factors include at least one of an indication of a type of the one or more malfunctioning components, an indication of a type of malfunction of the one or more malfunctioning components, or an indication of a current effect or an anticipated effect of the type of malfunction on the autonomous vehicle.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining the at least one maneuver includes:

determining the at least one maneuver to be one or more first maneuvers toward a destination different than the desired stop location when the autonomous vehicle is operable in the degraded driving mode; and

determining the at least one maneuver to be a stop operation that causes the autonomous vehicle to stop when the autonomous vehicle is not operable in the degraded driving mode.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining the at least one maneuver includes determining the at least one maneuver to be one or more second maneuvers toward the desired stop location when the determined likelihood is at or above the threshold.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

turning off the autonomous vehicle when the autonomous vehicle reaches the desired stop location.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

continuously updating the determined likelihood while the autonomous vehicle performs at least one of the one or more first maneuvers or the one or more second maneuvers; and

determining whether to change the at least one maneuver based on the continuously updated determined likelihood.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more factors include one or more weights that are applied to one or more safety scores to determine the determined likelihood.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining the desired stop location based on environmental surroundings sensed by the autonomous vehicle and on information received from an external source.

19. A system for controlling autonomous vehicles, the system comprising:

a first device to:

detect that a first autonomous vehicle has one or more malfunctioning components;

determine, in response to the detection, a likelihood that the first autonomous vehicle is able to reach a desired stop location based on one or more factors associated with the one or more malfunctioning components;

determine, when the likelihood is at or below a threshold, whether the autonomous vehicle is operable in a degraded driving mode based on the one or more factors;

determine at least one maneuver for the first autonomous vehicle based on the determined likelihood; and

cause the first autonomous vehicle to perform the determined at least one maneuver.

20. The system of claim 19 , further comprising:

at least one second device associated with at least one second autonomous vehicle, wherein the at least one second device generates information relating to the desired stop location based on surroundings sensed by the at least one second autonomous vehicle, and wherein the first device determines the desired stop location based on the information.