Method for keeping distance between an autonomous driving vehicle and a following vehicle using a braking light

1. A computer-implemented method for operating an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising:

sensing a driving behavior of a following vehicle that follows an autonomous driving vehicle;

determining a distance between the autonomous driving vehicle and the following vehicle based on sensed driving behavior of the following vehicle;

receiving an image, captured by a camera, of an environment of the autonomous driving vehicle that includes at least a portion of the following vehicle;

processing the image to identify two or more road conditions that comprise a weight of the following vehicle and a weather condition;

determining a first predetermined distance threshold using a government safety regulation and the two or more road conditions, wherein the first predetermined distance threshold is increased when the weather condition indicates a wet condition;

determining whether the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold;

turning on a brake light of the autonomous driving vehicle without issuing a brake command to the autonomous driving vehicle, in response to determining the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold; and

determining a brake light flash pattern based on the first predetermined distance threshold corresponding to a driving scenario that is based on the government safety regulation and the two or more road conditions, wherein the brake light is turned on according to the determined flash pattern, wherein the brake light is turned on for a first period of time in response to determining that the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold but is not shorter than a second predetermined distance threshold, and wherein the brake light is turned on for a second period of time longer than the first period of time in response to determining that the distance is shorter than both the first and second predetermined distance thresholds.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the brake light of the autonomous driving vehicle is turned on without slowing down the autonomous driving vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the driving scenario at a point in time with respect to the autonomous driving vehicle and the following vehicle, wherein

the determined first predetermined distance threshold is associated with the determined driving scenario.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the driving scenario is one of a plurality of predetermined driving scenarios, and wherein each of the predetermined driving scenarios is associated with a particular distance threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driving scenario is determined based on a combination of the government safety regulation, the two or more road conditions, and one or more of a traffic condition, a speed of the autonomous driving vehicle, or a weight of the autonomous driving vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first predetermined distance threshold comprises:

performing a lookup operation in a mapping table based on the driving scenario, wherein the mapping table includes a plurality of mapping entries, each mapping entry mapping a driving scenario to a distance threshold; and

obtaining the first predetermined distance threshold from a mapping entry that matches the driving scenario.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

sensing a driving behavior of a following vehicle that follows an autonomous driving vehicle;

determining a distance between the autonomous driving vehicle and the following vehicle based on sensed driving behavior of the following vehicle;

receiving an image, captured by a camera, of an environment of the autonomous driving vehicle that includes at least a portion of the following vehicle;

processing the image to identify two or more road conditions that comprise a weight of the following vehicle and a weather condition;

determining a first predetermined distance threshold using a government safety regulation and the two or more road conditions, wherein the first predetermined distance threshold is increased when the weather condition indicates a wet condition;

determining whether the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold;

turning on a brake light of the autonomous driving vehicle without issuing a brake command to the autonomous driving vehicle, in response to determining the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold;

determining a brake light flash pattern based on the first predetermined distance threshold corresponding to a driving scenario that is based on the government safety regulation and the two or more road conditions, wherein the brake light is turned on according to the determined flash pattern, wherein the brake light is turned on for a first period of time in response to determining that the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold but is not shorter than a second predetermined distance threshold, and wherein the brake light is turned on for a second period of time longer than the first period of time in response to determining that the distance is shorter than both the first and second predetermined distance thresholds.

8. The machine-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the brake light of the autonomous driving vehicle is turned on without slowing down the autonomous driving vehicle.

9. The machine-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining the driving scenario at a point in time with respect to the autonomous driving vehicle and the following vehicle, wherein

the determined first predetermined distance threshold is associated with the determined driving scenario.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the driving scenario is one of a plurality of predetermined driving scenarios, and wherein each of the predetermined driving scenarios is associated with a particular distance threshold.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the driving scenario is determined based on a combination of the government safety regulation, the two or more road conditions, and one or more of a traffic condition, a speed of the autonomous driving vehicle, or a weight of the autonomous driving vehicle.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein determining the first predetermined distance threshold comprises:

performing a lookup operation in a mapping table based on the driving scenario, wherein the mapping table includes a plurality of mapping entries, each mapping entry mapping a driving scenario to a distance threshold; and

obtaining the first predetermined distance threshold from a mapping entry that matches the driving scenario.

13. A data processing system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations including

sensing a driving behavior of a following vehicle that follows an autonomous driving vehicle,

determining a distance between the autonomous driving vehicle and the following vehicle based on sensed driving behavior of the following vehicle,

receiving an image, captured by a camera, of an environment of the autonomous driving vehicle that includes at least a portion of the following vehicle,

processing the image to identify two or more road conditions that comprise a weight of the following vehicle and a weather condition,

determining a first predetermined distance threshold using a government safety regulation and the two or more road conditions, wherein the first predetermined distance threshold is increased when the weather condition indicates a wet condition,

determining whether the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold,

turning on a brake light of the autonomous driving vehicle without issuing a brake command to the autonomous driving vehicle, in response to determining the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold; and

determining a brake light flash pattern based on the first predetermined distance threshold corresponding to a driving scenario that is based on the government safety regulation and the two or more road conditions, wherein the brake light is turned on according to the determined flash pattern, wherein the brake light is turned on for a first period of time in response to determining that the distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance threshold but is not shorter than a second predetermined distance threshold, and wherein the brake light is turned on for a second period of time longer than the first period of time in response to determining that the distance is shorter than both the first and second predetermined distance thresholds.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the brake light of the autonomous driving vehicle is turned on without slowing down the autonomous driving vehicle.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining the driving scenario at a point in time with respect to the autonomous driving vehicle and the following vehicle, wherein

the determined first predetermined distance threshold is associated with the determined driving scenario.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the driving scenario is one of a plurality of predetermined driving scenarios, and wherein each of the predetermined driving scenarios is associated with a particular distance threshold.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the driving scenario is determined based on a combination of the government safety regulation, the two or more road conditions, and one or more of a traffic condition, a speed of the autonomous driving vehicle, or a weight of the autonomous driving vehicle.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein determining the first predetermined distance threshold comprises:

performing a lookup operation in a mapping table based on the driving scenario, wherein the mapping table includes a plurality of mapping entries, each mapping entry mapping a driving scenario to a distance threshold; and

obtaining the first predetermined distance threshold from a mapping entry that matches the driving scenario.