IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,897,460
Granted Patent B2
US 11,897,460 · App. 17/320,887 · Granted Feb 13, 2024

Risk processing for vehicles having autonomous driving capabilities

Inventors: Hsun-Hsien Chang (Brookline, MA); Noam Weinstein (Cambridge, MA); Eric Wolff (Cambridge, MA); Philipp Robbel (Cambridge, MA); Jacob C. Cheuvront (Waltham, MA); Karl Iagnemma (Belmont, MA); Katarzyna Anna Marczuk (Singapore, SG)
Assignee: Motional AD LLC
B60W30/09B60W30/0953B60W30/0956B60W30/10B60W30/18163B60W50/0097G07C5/008B60W2050/0075B60W2520/06B60W2520/10B60W2540/30B60W2552/00B60W2554/80B60W2556/10
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,897,460
App. No.
17/320,887
Granted
Feb 13, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Among other things, sensor signals are received using a vehicle comprising an autonomous driving capability. A risk associated with operating the vehicle is identified based on the sensor signals. The autonomous driving capability is modified in response to the risk. The operation of the vehicle is updated based on the modifying of the autonomous capability.

Claims (76)

1. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising:

processing data to identify a risk during a current instance of driving a vehicle comprising an autonomous driving capability;

in response to identifying the risk, modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle, wherein the modifying comprises:

determining that the location of the risk is near a current location of the vehicle;

in response to determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, obtaining information about the risk by analyzing signals from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle;

configuring a perception process corresponding to the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle to consider the obtained information about the risk as prior information; and

recognizing one or more objects in a driving environment of the vehicle by applying probabilistic inference to the one or more objects based at least on the prior information; and

causing movement of the vehicle based on modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle comprises selecting one of a plurality of available options to modify a route traveled by the vehicle based on a distance of the determined location of the risk relative to the current location of the vehicle, the operations further comprising:

upon determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, planning a modification to a trajectory of the vehicle to change a driving lane of the vehicle to bypass the risk; and

upon determining that the location of the risk is distant from the current location of the vehicle, planning a modification to the route traveled by the vehicle to avoid the location of the risk.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

upon determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, assigning a higher priority to operations performed by the perception process.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle in response to identifying the risk further comprises:

triggering a teleoperation system associated with the vehicle, the triggering including invoking intervention on the driving of the vehicle from a remote operator.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a flag to alert one or more other processes corresponding to the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle about risks associated with driving the vehicle, wherein the operations comprise:

in response to identifying the risk, activating the flag to alert the one or more other processes about the risk.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to identifying the risk:

generating and inserting new instructions into existing instructions of a process that controls an operation of the vehicle, or

providing one or more inputs about objects detected in a driving environment of the vehicle to the process that controls the operation of the vehicle.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to identifying the risk, generating an alarm about the risk, the alarm comprising at least one of:

generating, using an interface providing information about the current instance of driving the vehicle, an audio signal to provide an alert about the risk, or

modifying a navigation guidance for the current instance of driving the vehicle to modify a trajectory of the vehicle to avoid the risk.

8. A method performed by one or more processors in a vehicle with an autonomous driving capability, the method comprising:

processing data to identify a risk during a current instance of driving the vehicle;

in response to identifying the risk, modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle, wherein the modifying comprises:

determining that the location of the risk is near a current location of the vehicle;

in response to determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, obtaining information about the risk by analyzing signals from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle;

configuring a perception process corresponding to the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle to consider the obtained information about the risk as prior information; and

recognizing one or more objects in a driving environment of the vehicle by applying probabilistic inference to the one or more objects based at least on the prior information; and

causing movement of the vehicle based on modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle comprises selecting one of a plurality of available options to modify the route traveled by the vehicle based on the distance of the determined location of the risk relative to the current location of the vehicle, the method further comprising:

upon determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, planning a modification to a trajectory of the vehicle to change a driving lane of the vehicle to bypass the risk; and

upon determining that the location of the risk is distant from the current location of the vehicle, planning a modification to the route traveled by the vehicle to avoid the location of the risk.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

upon determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, assigning a higher priority to operations performed by the perception process.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle in response to identifying the risk further comprises:

triggering a teleoperation system associated with the vehicle, the triggering including invoking intervention on the driving of the vehicle from a remote operator.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

in response to identifying the risk, activating a flag to alert one or more other processes corresponding to the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle about risks associated with driving the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

in response to identifying the risk:

generating and inserting new instructions into existing instructions of a process that controls an operation of the vehicle, or

providing one or more inputs about objects detected in a driving environment of the vehicle to the process that controls the operation of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

in response to identifying the risk, generating an alarm about the risk, the alarm comprising at least one of:

generating, using an interface providing information about the current instance of driving the vehicle, an audio signal to provide an alert about the risk, or

modifying a navigation guidance for the current instance of driving the vehicle to modify a trajectory of the vehicle to avoid the risk.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

processing data to identify a risk during a current instance of driving a vehicle comprising an autonomous driving capability;

in response to identifying the risk, modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle, wherein the modifying comprises:

determining that the location of the risk is near a current location of the vehicle;

in response to determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, obtaining information about the risk by analyzing signals from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle;

configuring a perception process corresponding to the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle to consider the obtained information about the risk as prior information; and

recognizing one or more objects in a driving environment of the vehicle by applying probabilistic inference to the one or more objects based at least on the prior information; and

causing movement of the vehicle based on modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle comprises selecting one of a plurality of available options to modify the route traveled by the vehicle based on the distance of the determined location of the risk relative to the current location of the vehicle, the operations further comprising:

upon determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, planning a modification to a trajectory of the vehicle to change a driving lane of the vehicle to bypass the risk; and

upon determining that the location of the risk is distant from the current location of the vehicle, planning a modification to the route traveled by the vehicle to avoid the location of the risk.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

upon determining that the location of the risk is near the current location of the vehicle, assigning a higher priority to operations performed by the perception process.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein modifying the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle in response to identifying the risk further comprises:

triggering a teleoperation system associated with the vehicle, the triggering including invoking intervention on the driving of the vehicle from a remote operator.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the operations comprise:

in response to identifying the risk, activating a flag to alert one or more other processes corresponding to the autonomous driving capability of the vehicle about risks associated with driving the vehicle.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to identifying the risk:

generating and inserting new instructions into existing instructions of a process that controls an operation of the vehicle, or

providing one or more inputs about objects detected in a driving environment of the vehicle to the process that controls the operation of the vehicle.

21. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to identifying the risk, generating an alarm about the risk, the alarm comprising at least one of:

generating, using an interface providing information about the current instance of driving the vehicle, an audio signal to provide an alert about the risk, or

modifying a navigation guidance for the current instance of driving the vehicle to modify a trajectory of the vehicle to avoid the risk.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 9, 2021
From: CHANG, HSUN-HSIEN; WEINSTEIN, NOAM; WOLFF, ERIC; ROBBEL, PHILIPP; CHEUVRONT, JACOB C.; IAGNEMMA, KARL; MARCZUK, KATARZYNA ANNA
To: APTIV TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
Reel/Frame 058059/0663 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 9, 2021
From: APTIV TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
To: MOTIONAL AD LLC
Reel/Frame 058059/0746 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 16013459 · Jun 20, 2018
Provisional Application 62522254 · Jun 20, 2017
Related Publication 20210339742A1 · Nov 4, 2021
Cited By (1)
US 12,411,232