Granted Patent B2

US 12,282,885 · App. 17/650,286 · Granted Apr 22, 2025

Inventors: Shubhashree Venkatesh (Fremont, CA); Noe Brito (Cupertino, CA); Yee-Ning Cheng (Sunnyvale, CA); Madhav Chhura (Whittier, CA); Sebastian Dovenor (Pittsburgh, PA); John Drake (Cranbury, NJ); Jonathan Pan (Campbell, CA); Jason Parraga (Fremont, CA); Scott Plant (San Jose, CA)

Assignee: Volkswagen Group of America Investments, LLC

G06Q10/083B60W50/0097B60W60/0011B60W60/00253B60W60/00256G01C21/36G01C21/3841G01C21/3856G01C21/387G06F16/285G06Q10/06311G08G1/20H04L9/3213H04L63/0807H04L63/0823H04L63/101H04L63/102H04L63/105H04L63/107B60W2552/00B60W2554/00B60W2556/40B60W2556/45

Abstract

Claims (81)

1. A system for generating a planned path for a first vehicle, the system comprising:

a processor that is remote from the first vehicle;

a data store containing a plurality of candidate motion planning systems, each of which is associated with one or more vehicles or one or more fleets; and

a memory containing programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to, in response to receiving a trip service request, generate a planned route for the first vehicle by:

identifying a starting point and a destination for the trip service request;

accessing a high definition map that includes the starting point and the destination,

using an identifier for the first vehicle or for a fleet with which the first vehicle is associated to select, from the plurality of candidate motion planning systems, a motion planning system that corresponds to the first vehicle or to the fleet with which the first vehicle is associated;

using functions of the selected motion planning system to generate a plurality of candidate trajectories for the first vehicle from the starting point to the destination;

obtaining a subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories based on an operating restriction for the vehicle specified by a service provider and at least one of a physical characteristic of the first vehicle, and a physical capability of the first vehicle;

selecting the planned route from the subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories;

determining a pickup location or a drop-off location for the first vehicle along the planned route based on a permission criteria specified by the service provider;

outputting first trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route from the pickup location to the drop-off location;

using the first trip instructions to simulate a run of the first vehicle to obtain simulated vehicle perception data;

changing the planned route based on the simulated vehicle perception data; and

outputting second trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route which has been changed.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the programming instructions are further configured to cause the processor to transmit the trip instructions to the first vehicle.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the programming instructions are further configured to cause the planned route to be displayed on a client device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the physical characteristic of the first vehicle comprises a length or a height, and the physical capability of the first vehicle comprises a possible turning radius.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operating restriction for the first vehicle comprises a condition-specific speed restriction or a location restriction.

6. A method of generating a planned path for a first vehicle, the method comprising:

by a processor that is remote from the first vehicle, upon receiving a trip service request for the first vehicle:

accessing a data store containing a plurality of candidate motion planning systems, each of which is associated with one or more vehicles or one or more fleets of vehicles;

identifying a starting point and a destination for the trip service request;

accessing a high definition map that includes the starting point and the destination;

using an identifier for the first vehicle or for a fleet with which the first vehicle is associated to select, from the plurality of candidate motion planning systems, a motion planning system that corresponds to the first vehicle or to the fleet with which the first vehicle is associated;

using functions of the selected motion planning system to generate a plurality of candidate trajectories for the first vehicle from the starting point to the destination;

obtaining a subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories based on an operating restriction for the vehicle specified by a service provider and at least one of a physical characteristic of the first vehicle, and a physical capability of the first vehicle;

selecting the planned route from the subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories;

determining a pickup location or a drop-off location for the first vehicle along the planned route based on a permission criteria specified by the service provider;

outputting first trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route from the pick-up location to the drop-off location;

using the first trip instructions to simulate a run of the first vehicle to obtain simulated vehicle perception data;

changing the planned route based on the simulated vehicle perception data; and

outputting second trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route which has been changed.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising, by the processor, transmitting the trip instructions to the first vehicle.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein using the physical characteristics of the first vehicle comprises a length or height, and the physical capability of the first vehicle comprises a possible turning radius.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the operating restriction comprises a condition-specific speed restriction or a location restriction.

10. A computer program product comprising:

a first memory portion containing data elements for a plurality of candidate motion planning systems, each of which is associated one or more vehicles or one or more fleets of vehicles; and

a second memory portion containing data elements that are configured to instruct a processor that is remote from a first vehicle to, upon receiving a trip service request for the first vehicle:

identify a starting point and a destination for the trip service request;

access a high definition map that includes the starting point and the destination;

use an identifier for the first vehicle or for a fleet with which the first vehicle is associated to select, from the plurality of candidate motion planning systems in the data store, a motion planning system that corresponds to the first vehicle or to the fleet with which the first vehicle is associated;

use functions of the selected motion planning system to generate a plurality of candidate trajectories for the first vehicle from the starting point to the destination;

obtain a subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories based on an operating restriction for the vehicle specified by a service provider and at least one of a physical characteristic of the first vehicle, and a physical capability of the first vehicle;

select the planned route from the subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories;

determine a pickup location or a drop-off location for the first vehicle along the planned route based on a permission criteria specified by the service provider;

output trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route from the pickup location to the drop-off location;

using the first trip instructions to simulate a run of the first vehicle to obtain simulated vehicle perception data;

changing the planned route based on the simulated vehicle perception data; and

outputting second trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route which has been changed.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising instructions to cause the processor to transmit the trip instructions to the first vehicle.

12. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the physical characteristic of the first vehicle comprises a length or a height, and the physical capability of the first vehicle comprises a possible turning radius.

13. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the operating restriction comprise a condition-specific speed restriction or a location restriction.

14. A system for generating a planned path for a vehicle, the system comprising:

a first vehicle comprising an on-board processor and programming instructions that are configured to provide the on-board processor with functions of:

an on-board motion planning system, and

a motion control system; and

a cloud service provider system that comprises a cloud service provider processor and programming instructions that are configured to cause the cloud service provider processor with functions of:

the on-board motion planning system, and

a trip generator service;

wherein the programming instructions of the trip generator service are configured to cause the cloud service provider processor to, in response to receiving a trip service request, generate a planned route for the first vehicle by:

identifying a starting point and a destination for the trip service request;

accessing a high definition map that includes the starting point and the destination;

using functions of the on-board motion planning system to generate a plurality of candidate trajectories for the first vehicle from the starting point to the destination;

obtaining a subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories based on an operating restriction for the vehicle specified by a service provider and at least one of a physical characteristic of the first vehicle, and a physical capability of the first vehicle;

selecting the planned route from the subset of the plurality of candidate trajectories;

determining a pickup location or a drop-off location for the first vehicle along the planned route based on a permission criteria specified by the service provider;

outputting trip instructions that are configured to cause the motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route from the pickup location to the drop-off location;

using the first trip instructions to simulate a run of the first vehicle to obtain simulated vehicle perception data;

changing the planned route based on the simulated vehicle perception data; and

outputting second trip instructions that are configured to cause a motion control system of the first vehicle to move along the planned route which has been changed.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the cloud service provider system comprises additional programming instructions that are configured to transmit the trip instructions to the first vehicle.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein:

the cloud service provider system comprises a data set of a plurality of motion planning systems, each of which is associated with a corresponding fleet or one or more corresponding vehicles in a fleet; and

the programming instructions are further configured to, after receiving the trip service request:

select the first vehicle from a plurality of vehicles in a particular fleet, and

use the motion planning system that corresponds to the first vehicle or the particular fleet when generating the plurality of candidate trajectories for the first vehicle.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein

the physical characteristic of the first vehicle comprises a length or height,

the physical capability of the first vehicle comprises a possible turn radius, or

the operating restriction comprises a condition-specific speed restriction or a location restriction.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (91)