Preemptive maneuvering system for viewing a traffic control device

1. A preemptive maneuvering system for viewing a status of a traffic control device by one or more cameras of an autonomous vehicle, wherein a moving obstruction is in front of the autonomous vehicle, the preemptive maneuvering system comprising:

one or more controllers executing instructions to:

monitor a current position of the autonomous vehicle until the autonomous vehicle is within a predefined distance from the traffic control device;

in response to determining the autonomous vehicle is within the predefined distance from the traffic control device and the traffic control device is occluded by the moving obstruction, calculate a height of the traffic control device by monitoring image data collected from the one or more cameras before the traffic control device was occluded by the moving obstruction to determine the status of the traffic control device, wherein the height of the traffic control device is determined by:

h

TCD

=

d

TCD

⁢

h

LEAD

-

h

CAMERA

d

LEAD

+

h

CAMERA

wherein d LEAD is a lead distance from the moving obstruction measured as the autonomous vehicle approaches the moving obstruction, d TCD is a distance from the autonomous vehicle to the traffic control device, h LEAD is a height of the moving obstruction, h TCD is the height of the traffic control device, and h CAMERA is a height of the one or more cameras;

continue to monitor the image data until a line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device is occluded by the moving obstruction;

in response to determining the line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device is occluded, calculate a target following distance between the autonomous vehicle and the moving obstruction; and

instruct the autonomous vehicle to execute one or more preemptive maneuvers to position the autonomous vehicle at the target following distance from the moving obstruction.

2. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein positioning the autonomous vehicle at the target following distance results in unblocking the line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device.

3. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein the target following distance is determined by:

d

follow

=

d

TCD

⁢

h

LEAD

-

h

CAMERA

h

TCD

-

h

CAMERA

wherein d follow is the target following distance.

4. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein the status of the traffic control device indicates when the autonomous vehicle should go, slow down, and stop.

5. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein one or more preemptive maneuvers include at least one of the following: slow-down motion and slow-start motion.

6. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers execute instructions to:

compare the target following distance with a threshold distance; and

in response to determining the target following distance is less than the threshold distance, instruct the autonomous vehicle to execute one or more preemptive maneuvers.

7. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 6 , wherein the threshold distance represents a maximum distance allowed between the autonomous vehicle and the moving obstruction without impeding traffic.

8. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein the traffic control device is a traffic light.

9. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 1 , wherein the moving obstruction is a lead vehicle.

10. A method for executing one or more preemptive maneuvers to position an autonomous vehicle at a target following distance from a moving obstruction by a preemptive maneuvering system, wherein the moving obstruction is in front of the autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:

monitoring, by one or more controllers, a current position of the autonomous vehicle until the autonomous vehicle is within a predefined distance from a traffic control device;

in response to determining the autonomous vehicle is within the predefined distance from the traffic control device and the traffic control device is occluded by the moving obstruction, calculating a height of the traffic control device by monitoring image data collected from one or more cameras before the traffic control device was occluded by the moving obstruction to determine the status of the traffic control device, wherein the height of the traffic control device is determined by

h

TCD

=

d

TCD

⁢

h

LEAD

-

h

CAMERA

d

LEAD

+

h

CAMERA

wherein d LEAD is a lead distance from the moving obstruction measured as the autonomous vehicle approaches the moving obstruction, d TCD is a distance from the autonomous vehicle to the traffic control device, h LEAD is a height of the moving obstruction, h TCD is the height of the traffic control device, and h CAMERA is a height of the one or more cameras;

in response to determining the autonomous vehicle is within the predefined distance from the traffic control device, monitoring, by the one or more controllers, image data collected from the one or more cameras to determine a status of the traffic control device;

continuing to monitor the image data until a line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device is occluded by the moving obstruction;

in response to determining the line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device is occluded, calculating a target following distance between the autonomous vehicle and the moving obstruction; and

instructing the autonomous vehicle to execute one or more preemptive maneuvers to position the autonomous vehicle at the target following distance from the moving obstruction.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises determining the target following distance by:

d

follow

=

d

TCD

⁢

h

LEAD

-

h

CAMERA

h

TCD

-

h

CAMERA

wherein d follow is the target following distance.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:

comparing the target following distance with a threshold distance; and

in response to determining the target following distance is less than the threshold distance, instructing the autonomous vehicle to execute one or more preemptive maneuvers.

13. A preemptive maneuvering system for viewing a status of a traffic control device by one or more cameras of an autonomous vehicle, wherein a moving obstruction is in front of the autonomous vehicle, the preemptive maneuvering system comprising:

one or more controllers executing instructions to:

monitor a current position of the autonomous vehicle until the autonomous vehicle is within a predefined distance from the traffic control device;

in response to determining the autonomous vehicle is within the predefined distance from the traffic control device and the traffic control device is occluded by the moving obstruction, calculate a height of the traffic control device by monitoring image data collected from the one or more cameras before the traffic control device was occluded by the moving obstruction to determine the status of the traffic control device, wherein the height of the traffic control device is determined by:

h

TCD

=

d

TCD

⁢

h

LEAD

-

h

CAMERA

d

LEAD

+

h

CAMERA

wherein d LEAD is a lead distance from the moving obstruction measured as the autonomous vehicle approaches the moving obstruction, d TCD is a distance from the autonomous vehicle to the traffic control device, h LEAD is a height of the moving obstruction, h TCD is the height of the traffic control device, and h CAMERA is a height of the one or more cameras;

continue to monitor the image data until a line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device is occluded by the moving obstruction;

in response to determining the line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device is occluded, calculate a target following distance between the autonomous vehicle and the moving obstruction; and

instruct the autonomous vehicle to execute one or more preemptive maneuvers to position the autonomous vehicle at the target following distance from the moving obstruction, wherein positioning the autonomous vehicle at the target following distance results in unblocking the line-of-sight between the one or more cameras and the traffic control device.

14. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 13 , wherein the target following distance is determined by:

d

follow

=

d

TCD

⁢

h

LEAD

-

h

CAMERA

h

TCD

-

h

CAMERA

wherein d follow is the target following distance.

15. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 13 , wherein the status of the traffic control device indicates when the autonomous vehicle should go, slow down, and stop.

16. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 13 , wherein one or more preemptive maneuvers include at least one of the following: slow-down motion and slow-start motion.

17. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more controllers execute instructions to:

compare the target following distance with a threshold distance; and

in response to determining the target following distance is less than the threshold distance, instruct the autonomous vehicle to execute one or more preemptive maneuvers.

18. The preemptive maneuvering system of claim 17 , wherein the threshold distance represents a maximum distance allowed between the autonomous vehicle and the moving obstruction without impeding traffic.