Autonomous vehicle control for reverse motion

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

accessing, by a computing system comprising one or more computing devices, a route with one or more route sections, the one or more route sections including a reverse driving section through an environment;

accessing, by the computer system, physical model data representing a position and actual orientation of the autonomous vehicle in the environment;

modifying, by the computer system, the physical model data to generate a simulated orientation for the autonomous vehicle based on a direction associated with the reverse driving section;

transmitting, by the computer system, data associated with the reverse driving section of the accessed route and the modified physical model data to a motion planner;

receiving, by the computer system, from the motion planner, one or more control signals for the autonomous vehicle; and

transmitting, by the computer system, the one or more control signals to a vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle, wherein a path for the autonomous vehicle along the reverse driving section is generated by simulating the autonomous vehicle driving forward from a first point to a second point in the reverse driving section; and

wherein the path is actuated by a vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle driving in reverse from the first point to the second point in the reverse driving section.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the physical model data further includes modifying, by the computer system, one or more of: a stored size, a stored shape, or stored dimensions of the autonomous vehicle in the physical model data to generate at least one of a simulated size, shape, or dimensions.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein modifying the physical model data further includes modifying, by the computer system, bumper locations in the physical model data to generate simulated bumper locations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the physical model data further includes modifying, by the computer system, driving dynamics data associated with the autonomous vehicle to generate simulated driving dynamics data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical model data includes data describing one or more characteristics of an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle and modifying the physical model data further includes modifying a position of one or more lane boundaries in physical model data to generate simulated lane boundaries.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein modifying the position of the one or more lane boundaries further comprises swapping, by the computer system, the position of the one or more lane boundaries between a first side of a travel way and a second side of a travel way.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein modifying the physical model data further includes reversing, by the computer system, a stored direction of one or more lanes in the environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle to generate simulated lane directions.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the simulated orientation is generated by:

determining, by the computer system, an actual orientation for the autonomous vehicle; and

modifying, by the computer system, the physical model data such that the simulated orientation differs from the actual orientation by 180 degrees.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein each route section has associated direction data and wherein accessing, by one or more computing devices, a route with one or more route sections further comprises:

for a respective route section of the one or more route sections:

determining, by the computer system, whether the direction data associated with the respective route section indicates that the route section is a reverse driving section; and

in accordance with a determination that the direction data indicates that the respective route section is a reverse driving section:

generating, by the computer system, one or more control signals that cause the autonomous vehicle to reduce a velocity of the autonomous vehicle to zero prior to beginning the reverse driving section.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, in accordance with a determination that the direction data indicates that the respective route section is a reverse driving section:

establishing a maximum velocity for the reverse driving section.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the maximum velocity is 1 m/s.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to transmitting the one or more control signals to the vehicle control system:

changing a velocity in the one or more control signals from a positive velocity to a negative velocity with an equal absolute value.

13. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

a processor;

a display; and

a memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the device to perform operations, the operations comprising:

accessing a route with one or more route sections, the one or more route sections including a reverse travelling section through an environment;

accessing physical model data representing a position and actual orientation of the autonomous vehicle in the environment;

modifying the physical model data to generate a simulated orientation based on a direction associated with the reverse travelling section;

transmitting the reverse travelling section of the accessed route and the modified physical model data to a motion planner;

receiving from the motion planner, one or more control signals; and

transmitting the one or more control signals to a vehicle control system, wherein a path for the autonomous vehicle along the reverse driving section is generated by simulating the autonomous vehicle driving forward from a first point to a second point in the reverse driving section; and

wherein the path is actuated by a vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle driving in reverse from the first point to the second point in the reverse driving section.

14. The autonomous vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the operations for generating a simulated orientation further include operations comprising:

determining the actual orientation for the autonomous vehicle; and

updating the simulated orientation in the physical model data such that the simulated orientation differs from the actual orientation by 180 degrees.

15. The autonomous vehicle of claim 13 , wherein each route section has associated direction data: and wherein-accessing, by one or more computing devices, a route with one or more route sections further comprises:

for a respective route section of the one or more route sections:

determining whether the direction data associated with the respective route section indicates that the route section is a reverse travelling section; and

in accordance with a determination that the direction data indicates that the respective route section is a reverse travelling section:

generating one or more control signals to reduce a velocity of the autonomous vehicle to zero prior to beginning the reverse travelling section.

16. The autonomous vehicle of claim 15 , the operations further comprising, in accordance with a determination that the direction data indicates that the respective route section is a reverse travelling section:

establishing a maximum velocity for the reverse travelling section.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform operations, the operations comprising:

accessing a route with one or more route sections, the one or more route sections including a reverse travelling section through an environment;

accessing physical model data representing a position and actual orientation of the autonomous vehicle in the environment;

modifying the physical model data to generate a simulated orientation based on a direction associated with the reverse travelling section;

transmitting the reverse travelling section of the accessed route and the modified physical model data to a motion planner;

receiving from the motion planner, one or more control signals; and

transmitting the one or more control signals to a vehicle control system, wherein a path for the autonomous vehicle along the reverse driving section is generated by simulating the autonomous vehicle driving forward from a first point to a second point in the reverse driving section; and

wherein the path is actuated by a vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle driving in reverse from the first point to the second point in the reverse driving section.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations for generating a simulated orientation further include operations comprising:

determining the actual orientation for the autonomous vehicle; and

updating the simulated orientation in the physical model data such that the simulated orientation differs from the actual orientation by 180 degrees.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein each route section has associated direction data and wherein accessing, by one or more computing devices, a route with one or more route sections further comprises:

for a respective route section of the one or more route sections:

determining whether the direction data associated with the respective route section indicates that the route section is a reverse travelling section; and

in accordance with a determination that the direction data indicates that the respective route section is a reverse travelling section:

generating one or more control signals that cause a velocity of the autonomous vehicle to zero prior to beginning the reverse travelling section.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , the operations further comprising, in accordance with a determination that the direction data indicates that the respective route section is a reverse travelling section:

establishing a maximum velocity for the reverse travelling section.