VISUAL CUE SYSTEM FOR ROADWAYS

1 . (canceled)

2 . A visual cue unit for conveying road state data to one or more vehicles traveling on a roadway, the visual cue unit comprising:

a data processing unit configured to execute instructions to cause the data processing unit to perform operations comprising:

receiving road state data,

determining, from a plurality of candidate types of light patterns, a type for a light pattern based on a capability of a vehicle that the light pattern is to be targeted to, and

determining the light pattern based on the road state data and the type for the light pattern; and

a light pattern display that selectively issues at least a portion of the light pattern.

3 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the visual cue unit is absent sensors that are responsive to road state.

4 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the light pattern is a human-visible light pattern.

5 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the light pattern is a machine-readable light pattern.

6 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the light pattern is not visible to humans.

7 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein determining the light pattern comprises:

obtaining vehicle state information of the vehicle; and

determining, based on the vehicle state information, a display time and a display location of the light pattern, the light pattern being issued by one or more visual cue units at the display time and the display location.

8 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the light pattern display is attached to one or more road barriers located over a distance along the roadway, wherein the light pattern is distributed across the one or more road barriers.

9 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein determining the type for the light pattern comprises determining the type for a format of the light pattern is determined based on an operational mode determined for the vehicle.

10 . The visual cue unit of claim 9 , wherein the operational mode comprises one of manual, semi-autonomous, and autonomous.

11 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the road state data comprises one or more of a driving suggestion, a road hazard, a road incident, and waypoint information.

12 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein a set of visual cue units are configured to collectively issue the light pattern as a dynamic light pattern.

13 . The visual cue unit of claim 2 , wherein the capability of the vehicle comprises the vehicle having a particular type of sensor, and determining the type for the light pattern comprises:

determining, from the plurality of candidate types of light patterns, the type for the light pattern that can be processed by the particular type of sensor on the vehicle.

14 . A computer-implemented method for selectively issuing light patterns from one or more visual cue units, the method comprising:

receiving road state data;

determining, from a plurality of candidate types of light patterns, a type for a light pattern based on a capability of a vehicle that the light pattern is to be targeted to;

determining the light pattern based on the road state data and the type for the light pattern; and

issuing the light pattern on a light pattern display of a visual cue unit.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the light pattern is a human-visible light pattern.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the light pattern is not visible to humans.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the light pattern is issued as a machine-readable light pattern.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the light pattern comprises:

obtaining vehicle state information of the vehicle; and

determining, based on the vehicle state information, a display time and a display location of the light pattern, the light pattern being issued at the display time and the display location.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the vehicle is traveling on a roadway, the light pattern display is attached to one or more road barriers located over a distance along the roadway, and the light pattern is distributed across the one or more road barriers.

20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the type for the light pattern is based on an operational mode of the vehicle.

21 . One or more non-transitory storage media encoded with instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform operations for selectively issuing light patterns from one or more visual cue units, the operations comprising:

receiving road state data;

determining, from a plurality of candidate types of light patterns, a type for a light pattern based on a capability of a vehicle that the light pattern is to be targeted to;

determining the light pattern based on the road state data and the type for the light pattern; and

issuing the light pattern on a light pattern display of a visual cue unit.