Restricting areas available to autonomous and teleoperated vehicles
A vehicle policy server maintains a set of policies for constraining operations of one or more remote vehicles. The policies may specify areas, locations, or routes that specified vehicles are restricted from accessing based on a set of acquired information. An application programming interface (API) enables programmatic updates of the policies or related information. Policies may be enforced by transmitting control signals fully or in part to onboard vehicle computers or to a teleoperation support module providing remote support to the vehicles using human teleoperators and/or artificial intelligence agents. The control signals may directly control the vehicles or teleoperation, or may cause a navigation system to present known restrictions in a suitable fashion such as generating an augmented reality display or mapping overlays.
1. A method for restricting navigation of a vehicle via interactions with a remote server, the method comprising:
storing, at a policy database, a set of policies specifying rules constraining permissible geographic regions where the vehicle is permitted to navigate;
obtaining, from sensors of the vehicle, first input data relating to a first state of the vehicle at a first time while the vehicle is controlled by an autonomous drive system of the vehicle;
determining, by a processor, a first set of one or more applicable policies from the set of policies that apply to the vehicle based on the obtained first state of the vehicle;
responsive to detecting, based on the first state of the vehicle, that the vehicle is within a threshold distance of restricted geographic region specified by the first set of one or more applicable policies, establishing a teleoperation session in which a remote teleoperator remotely controls navigation of the vehicle;
providing at a remote teleoperation station, a view of a local environment of the vehicle that includes visual indicators of permitted and restricted road segments;
transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle to control navigation of the vehicle during the teleoperation session; and
responsive to detecting that the vehicle is outside the threshold distance of the restricted region, terminating the teleoperation session and restoring control of the vehicle to the autonomous drive system of the vehicle.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle comprises:
automatically generating teleoperation controls that constrain the navigation of the vehicle consistent with the first set of the one or more applicable policies.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of policies comprises:
storing a time-based policy that constrains navigation in a time-dependent manner that is based in part on a local time.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of polices comprises:
storing an occupant-based policy that constrains navigation of the vehicle based in part on an identity of one or more occupants of the vehicle.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of policies comprise:
storing a cargo-based policy that constrains navigation of the vehicle based in part on an identification of one or more items being transported by the vehicle.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of polices comprises:
storing a teleoperator-based policy that constrains navigation of the vehicle based in part on an identity of a teleoperator providing remote support to the vehicle.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of polices comprises:
communicating with an administrator server via an application programming interface that enables an administrator to create or update an administrator-generated policy; and
storing the administrator-generated policy.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the state of the vehicle comprises at least one of: a unique identifier of the vehicle, location of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, a physical characteristic of the vehicle, a capability of the vehicle, an identifier of an occupant of the vehicle, an identifier of a cargo of the vehicle, an identifier of a human teleoperator providing remote support to the vehicle, an identifier of an artificial intelligence agent instance providing remote support to the vehicle, environmental conditions in a vicinity of the vehicle, and network connectivity data associated with the vehicle.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for restricting navigation of a vehicle via interactions with a remote server, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to perform steps comprising:
storing, at a policy database, a set of policies specifying rules constraining permissible geographic regions where the vehicle is permitted to navigate;
obtaining, from sensors of the vehicle, first input data relating to a first state of the vehicle at a first time while the vehicle is controlled by an autonomous drive system of the vehicle;
determining, by a processor, a first set of one or more applicable policies from the set of policies that apply to the vehicle based on the obtained first state of the vehicle;
responsive to detecting, based on the first state of the vehicle, that the vehicle is within a threshold distance of restricted geographic region specified by the first set of one or more applicable policies, establishing a teleoperation session in which a remote teleoperator remotely controls navigation of the vehicle;
providing at a remote teleoperation station, a view of a local environment of the vehicle that includes visual indicators of permitted and restricted road segments;
transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle to control navigation of the vehicle during the teleoperation session; and
responsive to detecting that the vehicle is outside the threshold distance of the restricted region, terminating the teleoperation session and restoring control of the vehicle to the autonomous drive system of the vehicle.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle comprises:
automatically generating teleoperation controls that constrain the navigation of the vehicle consistent with the first set of the one or more applicable policies.
11. A computer system comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for restricting navigation of a vehicle via interactions with a remote server, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to perform steps comprising:
storing, at a policy database, a set of policies specifying rules constraining permissible geographic regions where the vehicle is permitted to navigate;
obtaining, from sensors of the vehicle, first input data relating to a first state of the vehicle at a first time while the vehicle is controlled by an autonomous drive system of the vehicle;
determining, by a processor, a first set of one or more applicable policies from the set of policies that apply to the vehicle based on the obtained first state of the vehicle;
responsive to detecting, based on the first state of the vehicle, that the vehicle is within a threshold distance of restricted geographic region specified by the first set of one or more applicable policies, establishing a teleoperation session in which a remote teleoperator remotely controls navigation of the vehicle;
providing at a remote teleoperation station, a view of a local environment of the vehicle that includes visual indicators of permitted and restricted road segments;
transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle to control navigation of the vehicle during the teleoperation session; and
responsive to detecting that the vehicle is outside the threshold distance of the restricted region, terminating the teleoperation session and restoring control of the vehicle to the autonomous drive system of the vehicle.
12. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle comprises:
automatically generating teleoperation controls that constrain the navigation of the vehicle consistent with the first set of the one or more applicable policies.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle comprises:
transmitting the controls to a remote support server based on manual control inputs from a human teleoperator to the remote teleoperation status.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of policies comprises:
storing a whitelist policy comprising identifiers for a set of geographic areas or road segments that the vehicle is allowed to traverse if the state of the vehicle meets a specified set of conditions.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the set of policies comprises:
storing a blacklist policy comprising identifiers for a set of geographic areas or road segments that the vehicle is prohibited from traversing if the state of the vehicle meets a specified set of conditions.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein storing the set of policies comprises:
storing a time-based policy that constrains navigation in a time-dependent manner that is based in part on a local time.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein storing the set of polices comprises:
storing an occupant-based policy that constrains navigation of the vehicle based in part on an identity of one or more occupants of the vehicle.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein storing the set of policies comprise:
storing a cargo-based policy that constrains navigation of the vehicle based in part on an identification of one or more items being transported by the vehicle.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein storing the set of polices comprises:
storing a teleoperator-based policy that constrains navigation of the vehicle based in part on an identity of a teleoperator providing remote support to the vehicle.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein transmitting the teleoperation controls to the vehicle comprises:
transmitting the controls to a remote support server based on manual control inputs from a human teleoperator to the remote teleoperation status.