Autonomous transportation system and methods
Autonomous and manually operated vehicles are integrated into a cohesive, interactive environment, with communications to each other and to their surroundings, to improve traffic flow while reducing accidents and other incidents. All vehicles send/receive messages to/from each other, and from infrastructure devices, enabling the vehicles to determine their status, traffic conditions and infrastructure. The vehicles store and operate in accordance with a common set of rules based upon the messages received and other inputs from sensors, databases, and so forth, to avoid obstacles and collisions based upon current and, in some cases, future or predicted behavior. Shared vehicle control interfaces enable the AVs to conform to driving activities that are legal, safe, and allowable on roadways. Such activities enable each AV to drive within safety margins, speed limits, on allowed or legal driving lanes and through allowed turns, intersections, mergers, lane changes, stops/starts, and so forth.
1. A transportation system for managing vehicular behavior, comprising:
multiple autonomous vehicles (AVs) and manual vehicles (MVs) interoperating in a common driving environment defined by a shared set of driving rules, each AV including:
(a) a drive train including a source of motive power coupled to wheels, a steering system, and controls for acceleration and braking;
(b) a first set of sensors operative to provide self-location of the AV;
(c) a second set of sensors operative to monitor an environment surrounding the AV;
(d) a wireless communications interface;
(e) a memory storing road maps including information regarding infrastructure locations, roadways and intersections, and route plans including paths from starting points to destinations;
(f) an electronic controller in communication with (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e), and wherein the electronic controller is operative to start, stop, steer, and control the speed of the AV to execute the route plans;
each MV including:
(g) a drive train including a source of motive power coupled to wheels, a steering system, and controls for acceleration and braking;
(h) a wireless communications interface;
(i) a memory storing road maps including information regarding the location of infrastructure, roadways and intersections;
(j) an electronic controller in communication with (g), (h) and (i), and wherein the electronic controller is operative to start, stop, steer, and control the speed of the MV in accordance with operator commands;
one or more infrastructure devices, each infrastructure device including a wireless communications interface;
wherein both the AVs and MVs receive messages from each other and from the infrastructure devices enabling the AVs and MVs to determine the status of traffic conditions and infrastructure in their vicinity;
wherein the AVs and MVs both store the shared set of driving rules; and
wherein the both the AVs and MVs execute the shared set of driving rules in accordance with the sensor inputs received and the messages exchanged to determine how to operate in the common driving environment.
2. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein the first set of sensors operative to provide self-location of the AV includes one or more of the following:
GPS,
3D point cloud measurements and matching;
inertial measurements, and
wheel or speed measurement.
3. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein the second set of sensors operative to monitor an environment surrounding the AV include one or more of the following:
LADAR
LIDAR,
RADAR, and
optical, ranging or stereo computer vision.
4. The transportation system of claim 1 , including an AV with an electronic controller operative to perform object recognition or image learning in conjunction with a sensor input.
5. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein the route plans executed by the AV include a planner operative to generate paths from a starting point to one or more destinations or intermediary points.
6. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein the route plans executed by the AV include generating vehicle controls based on information associated with paths that dictate vehicle behavior in proximity to locations along the paths.
7. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein the information includes stop signs, speed limits, lane change prohibitions, or specific tasks executed by AV payloads along the paths.
8. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein the road maps stored by the AVs and MVs include terrain information.
9. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein, in accordance with the rules, the AVs have the ability to deviate from a planned path due to avoid obstacles or road conditions.
10. The transportation system of claim 1 , wherein, in accordance with the rules, the AVs have the ability to perform enhanced braking and acceleration functions to avoid obstacles and collisions.
11. The transportation system of claim 1 , further including active localization and messaging tagging units carried or worn by pedestrians to inform AVs or MVs as to the position or movement of the pedestrians.
12. The transportation system of claim 1 , further including active localization and messaging tagging units supported on roadway or vehicle protected objects to inform AVs or MVs as to the position of the objects.
13. The transportation system of claim 1 , further including AVs that identify, pick up and place packages, pallets, containers or other payloads.
14. The transportation system of claim 1 , further including AVs with electronic controllers that are programmed to automatically perform one or more of the following functions:
parking,
trailer coupling and detachment,
refueling, and
vehicle washing or maintenance.
15. The transportation system of claim 1 , including one or more infrastructure devices with sensors operative to detect vehicles entering or within an intersection and communicate this information to other vehicles entering or within the intersection.
16. The transportation system of claim 1 , including one or more infrastructure devices operative to control intersection lights sequencing or directional light functions to improve traffic flow or avoid collisions.