METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REMOTE ASSISTANCE OF AN AUTONOMOUS AGENT
A system 100 for remote assistance of an autonomous agent can include and/or interface with any or all of: a sensor suite 110 , a computing system 120 , a communication interface 130 , and/or any other suitable components. The system can further optionally include a set of infrastructure devices 140 , a teleoperator platform 150 , and/or any other suitable components. The system 100 functions to enable information to be exchanged between an autonomous agent and a tele-assist. Additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can function to operate the autonomous agent (e.g., based on remote inputs received from a teleoperator, indirectly, etc.) and/or can perform any other suitable functions.
1 . A method comprising:
with a computing system of a vehicle, autonomously controlling the vehicle based on a set of electable policies; and
while autonomously controlling the vehicle based on the set of electable policies:
determining satisfaction of a probability threshold of an impasse occurrence along a target vehicle path;
based on the satisfaction of the probability threshold, providing a set of outputs to a remote assistance platform; and
updating the set of electable policies to include an operator-approved policy determined with the remote assistance platform.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the target path based on a set of inputs.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the operator-approved policy comprises a set of waypoints.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the set of outputs provided to the remote assistance platform comprises a set of estimated object parameters associated with an obstacle, wherein the set of waypoints circumvents the obstacle and deviates from the target path.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the operator approved policy is determined based on a binary decision by a remote operator.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the operator-approved policy is received at the onboard computing system via a wireless connection.
7 . A method for remote assistance of an autonomous agent, comprising:
based on a first set of inputs, determining satisfaction of an event trigger associated with an impasse along a target path of the autonomous agent;
based on the event trigger satisfaction, providing a set of outputs to a tele-assist platform, the set of outputs comprising a proposed policy which deviates from the target path;
determining a second set of inputs with the tele-assist platform, the second set of inputs associated with a tele-operator-approved policy;
determining a set of electable policies comprising the tele-operator-approved policy; and
autonomously controlling the vehicle based on the set of electable policies.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein autonomously controlling the vehicle occurs asynchronously with providing the set of outputs to the tele-assist platform.
9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising updating the target path based on the second set of inputs.
10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the second set of inputs comprises a set of waypoints which circumvent an obstacle.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the set of outputs provided to the tele-assist platform comprises a set of estimated object parameters associated with the obstacle.
12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the second set of inputs comprises a binary decision by a tele-operator.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the binary decision comprises a tele-operator approval of the proposed policy.
14 . The method of claim 7 , wherein controlling the vehicle based on the set of electable policies comprises: based on the first set of inputs, selecting and implementing a policy which differs from the tele-operator-approved policy.
15 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first set of inputs comprises a position estimate and a scenario.
16 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the event trigger comprises a time threshold.
17 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising: entering a holding pattern prior to determining the second set of inputs.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the holding pattern comprises: stopping the autonomous agent and waiting for tele-operator approval to proceed.
19 . A method for remote assistance of an autonomous agent, comprising:
based on a first set of inputs, determining satisfaction of an event trigger associated with an impasse;
based on the event trigger satisfaction, providing a set of outputs to a tele-assist platform, the set of outputs comprising a proposed policy;
determining a second set of inputs with the tele-assist platform, the second set of inputs comprising a tele-operator approval of the proposed policy;
updating the set of electable policies to include the proposed policy based on the tele-operator approval; and
autonomously controlling the vehicle based on the set of electable policies.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the event trigger comprises a probability threshold or a time threshold.