Predictive vehicle operating assistance
View Patent ↗Described herein are various systems and processes for predictive operating assistance of vehicles. The systems and techniques described herein may be applicable to vehicles such as vehicles operated by a driver, semi-autonomous vehicles, and/or autonomous vehicles. The assistance techniques described herein may be predictive. That is, the techniques allow for the prediction of non-optimal or dangerous operating conditions before the vehicle control is compromised. Accordingly, a warning may be provided and/or operation of the vehicle may be changed based on the predictive assistance determinations. In certain embodiments, the techniques described herein may provide warnings to a driver, may detect faults within the vehicle, may aid in route planning, may detect obstacles proximate to the vehicle, and/or may aid in the operation of the vehicle.
1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
a body;
a first wheel assembly, comprising a first wheel and a first tire coupled to the first wheel;
a first electric motor, configured to power the first wheel assembly;
a second wheel assembly, comprising a second wheel and a second tire coupled to the second wheel;
a second electric motor, configured to power the second wheel assembly;
a wheel slip sensor, configured to determine a slip angle of the first tire and provide slip angle data; and
a controller configured to:
determine, from the slip angle data, a baseline slip angle of the first tire;
determine that the baseline slip angle is greater than a threshold slip angle;
determine, based on the determining that the baseline slip angle is greater than the threshold slip angle, that an alignment of the first wheel assembly is misaligned;
change, based on the determination that the alignment of the first wheel assembly is misaligned, a first power output of the first electric motor relative to a second power output of the second electric motor; and
output a warning that the alignment of the wheel assembly is misaligned.
2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:
a user interface, wherein the warning is output by the user interface.
3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous vehicle further comprises:
a communications module configured to communicate vehicle data to and from a third party and receive communications data from the third party.
4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the warning is communicated as part of the vehicle data to the third party.
5. The autonomous vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the third party is an electronic device.
6. The autonomous vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the warning is configured to be communicated by the electronic device to a user.
7. The autonomous vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a planned route for the autonomous vehicle;
receive the communications data;
determine, from the communications data, weather conditions along portions of the planned route; and
determine, based on the weather conditions, transit speeds along the portions of the planned route.