IP Library Patent Application 17162481
Patent Application
App. No. 17/162,481

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING AN OPERATION OF ONE OR MORE SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES

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Patent No.
US None
App. No.
17/162,481
Abstract

The various embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methods for monitoring an operation of one or more self-driving vehicles. The method involves operating a vehicle processor of a self-driving vehicle to: collect, during operation, operation data associated with the operation of the self-driving vehicle; detect, from the operation data, a trigger condition is satisfied during the operation; determine, for the trigger condition, a pre-condition period and a post-condition period, the pre-condition period defining a time period before the trigger condition occurred and the post-condition period defining a time period following the trigger condition; retrieve, from a vehicle data storage, the subset of the operation data collected by the self-driving vehicle during the pre-condition period and the post-condition period; and transmit the subset of the operation data to the data analysis system.

Claims (75)

1 . A method for monitoring an operation of one or more self-driving vehicles, the method comprising:

operating a vehicle processor of a self-driving vehicle to:

collect, during operation, operation data associated with the operation of the self-driving vehicle;

detect, from the operation data, a trigger condition is satisfied during the operation;

determine, for the trigger condition, a pre-condition period and a post-condition period during which a subset of the operation data is to be retrieved for analyzing the operation of the self-driving vehicle in respect of the trigger condition, the pre-condition period defining a time period before the trigger condition occurred and the post-condition period defining a time period following the trigger condition;

retrieve, from a vehicle data storage, the subset of the operation data collected by the self-driving vehicle during the pre-condition period and the post-condition period;

request a transmission policy from a data analysis system remote from the self-driving vehicle via a network, the transmission policy defining one or more transmission parameters for transmitting the subset of the operation data to the data analysis system; and

transmit the subset of the operation data to the data analysis system according to the transmission policy.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving the subset of the operation data collected by the self-driving vehicle during the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

associating the subset of the operation data with at least one description identifier related to the trigger condition.

3 . (canceled)

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the trigger condition is satisfied during the operation comprises at least one of:

detecting, from the operation data, an error at the self-driving vehicle;

detecting, from the operation data, a completion of a mission assigned to the self-driving vehicle;

detecting receipt of a user triggered condition; or

detecting, from the operation data, a state change at the self-driving vehicle.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting the error at the self-driving vehicle comprises:

receiving at least two conflicting data inputs related to the operation of the self-driving vehicle.

6 .- 9 . (canceled)

10 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising operating the vehicle processor to:

determine an occurrence rate of the state change exceeds an occurrence threshold; and

in response to determining the occurrence rate exceeds the occurrence threshold, initiate a cool-down period following the post-condition period during which the vehicle processor operates to retrieve and transmit a reduced subset of operation data as the subset of the operation data.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the operation data associated with the operation of the self-driving vehicle comprises:

operating a sensing system at the self-driving vehicle to collect environmental data.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

determining a severity level of the trigger condition; and

defining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period based on the severity level.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

determining the trigger condition comprises the user-triggered condition;

determining a user type of a user initiating the user-triggered condition; and

defining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period based on the user type.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

determining one or more vehicle characteristics of the self-driving vehicle; and

defining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period based on the one or more vehicle characteristics.

15 .- 16 . (canceled)

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising operating the vehicle processor to:

in response to receiving the subset of the operation data, operating a data analysis processor of the data analysis system to index the subset of the operation data based on a set of description identifiers stored in a database accessible by the data analysis processor.

18 . (canceled)

19 . A system for monitoring an operation of one or more self-driving vehicles, the system comprising a vehicle processor of a self-driving vehicle configured to:

collect, during operation, operation data associated with the operation of the self-driving vehicle;

detect, from the operation data, a trigger condition is satisfied during the operation;

determine, for the trigger condition, a pre-condition period and a post-condition period during which a subset of the operation data is to be retrieved for analyzing the operation of the self-driving vehicle in respect of the trigger condition, the pre-condition period defining a time period before the trigger condition occurred and the post-condition period defining a time period following the trigger condition;

retrieve, from a vehicle data storage, the subset of the operation data collected by the self-driving vehicle during the pre-condition period and the post-condition period;

request a transmission policy from a data analysis system remote from the self-driving vehicle via a network, the transmission policy defining one or more transmission parameters for transmitting the subset of the operation data to the data analysis system; and

transmit the subset of the operation data to the data analysis system according to the transmission policy.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein retrieving the subset of the operation data collected by the self-driving vehicle during the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

associating the subset of the operation data with at least one description identifier related to the trigger condition.

21 . (canceled)

22 . The system of claim 19 , wherein detecting the trigger condition is satisfied during the operation comprises at least one of:

detecting, from the operation data, an error at the self-driving vehicle;

detecting, from the operation data, a completion of a mission assigned to the self-driving vehicle;

detecting receipt of a user-triggered condition; or

detecting, from the operation data, a state change at the self-driving vehicle.

23 . The system of claim 22 , wherein detecting the error at the self-driving vehicle comprises:

receiving at least two conflicting data inputs related to the operation of the self-driving vehicle.

24 .- 27 . (canceled)

28 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the vehicle processor is further configured to:

determine an occurrence rate of the state change exceeds an occurrence threshold; and

in response to determining the occurrence rate exceeds the occurrence threshold, initiate a cool-down period following the post-condition period during which the vehicle processor operates to retrieve and transmit a reduced subset of operation data as the subset of the operation data.

29 . The system of claim 19 , wherein collecting the operation data associated with the operation of the self-driving vehicle comprises:

operating a sensing system at the self-driving vehicle to collect environmental data.

30 . The system of claim 19 , wherein determining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

determining a severity level of the trigger condition; and

defining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period based on the severity level.

31 . The system of claim 19 , wherein determining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

determining the trigger condition comprises the user-triggered condition;

determining a user type of a user initiating the user-triggered condition; and

defining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period based on the user type.

32 . The system of claim 19 , wherein determining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period comprises:

determining one or more vehicle characteristics of the self-driving vehicle; and

defining the pre-condition period and the post-condition period based on the one or more vehicle characteristics.

33 .- 34 . (canceled)

35 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the vehicle processor is further configured to:

in response to receiving the subset of the operation data, operating a data analysis processor of the data analysis system to index the subset of the operation data based on a set of description identifiers stored in a database accessible by the data analysis processor.

36 .- 105 . (canceled)

Assignments (4)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE CONVEYING PARTY'S NAME FROM CLEARPATH ROBOTICS, INC. TO CLEARPATH ROBOTICS INC. (WITHOUT THE COMMA) PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 67944 FRAME 916. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Jul 25, 2024
From: CLEARPATH ROBOTICS INC.
To: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC.
Reel/Frame 068233/0542 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 27, 2024
From: CLEARPATH ROBOTICS, INC.
To: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC.
Reel/Frame 067944/0916 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 27, 2024
From: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC.
To: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 067944/0982 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 28, 2022
From: AUTRAN, GUILLAUME MICHEL; WON, JIN-MYUNG; SERVOS, JAMES; GARIEPY, RYAN CHRISTOPHER; KAYNAMA, SHAHAB
To: CLEARPATH ROBOTICS INC.
Reel/Frame 061246/0230 →