IP Library Granted Patent US 11,945,472
Granted Patent B2
US 11,945,472 · App. 17/006,763 · Granted Apr 2, 2024

Trajectory planning of vehicles using route information

Inventors: Daniele De Francesco (Lexington, MA); Aravindkumar Vijayalingam (Singapore, SG)
Assignee: Motional AD LLC
B60W60/0027G06N20/00H04W4/44H04W4/46B60W2554/4041B60W2554/4042B60W2554/4044B60W2556/65
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,945,472
App. No.
17/006,763
Granted
Apr 2, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Among other things, techniques are described for improving the trajectory estimates for an object in an environment. The technique includes receiving, by at least one processor, information indicating a presence of an object operating in an environment; determining, by the at least one processor, a trajectory of the object, the trajectory including at least a position, a speed, and a direction of travel of the object; determining, by the at least one processor, an expected route of the object, wherein the expected route is pre-planned and includes an expected future position of the object at a future time; comparing the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object; and in accordance with the comparison that the trajectory of the object is consistent with the expected route of the object, updating the trajectory of the object based on the expected route of the object.

Claims (52)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one processor, information indicating a presence of an object operating in an environment of a vehicle during a travel of the vehicle;

determining, by the at least one processor, a trajectory of the object representative of a future travel of the object based on sensor data of one or more sensors of the vehicle while the vehicle is driving, the trajectory including at least a position, a speed, or a direction of the future travel of the object;

determining, by the at least one processor, an expected route of the object based on a current trajectory of the object, wherein the expected route of the object is a pre-planned route for the object to take and includes an expected future position of the object at a future time;

comparing, by the at least one processor, the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object;

determining, by the at least one processor, a confidence level associated with the expected route of the object based on a result of the comparing;

updating, by the at least one processor, the trajectory of the object based on the expected route of the object and the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object; and

operating the vehicle based on the updated trajectory of the object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the expected route of the object includes receiving route information from a server.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination of the expected route is based on received route information from a transceiver or a mobile device associated with the object.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the future time is at least 5 seconds in the future.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object includes determining whether the position of the object is an expected position along the expected route.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object includes determining whether a velocity of the object is an expected velocity along the expected route.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received information indicating the presence of the object operating in the environment of the vehicle is from at least one sensor of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is part of a remote server.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received information indicating the presence of the object operating in the environment of the vehicle is from a transceiver or mobile device associated with the object.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining if the received information indicating the presence of the object operating in the environment of the vehicle is sufficient to determine the expected route of the object; and

in accordance with the determination that the received information is not sufficient to determine the expected route of the object, receiving additional information of at least one state of the object.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the received additional information of the at least one state of the object is from at least one sensor of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in accordance with the determination that the received information indicating the presence of the object operating in the environment of the vehicle is not sufficient to determine the expected route of the object, transmitting the received additional information of the at least one state of the object to a machine learning module for object classification.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in accordance with the comparison that the trajectory of the object is consistent with the expected route of the object, determining an uncertainty of the updated trajectory.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the updated trajectory information of the object.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising at least one program for execution by at least one processor of a first device, the at least one program including instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to perform operations comprising:

receiving information indicating a presence of an object operating in an environment of a vehicle during a travel of the vehicle;

determining a trajectory of the object representative of a future travel of the object based on sensor data of one or more sensors of the vehicle while the vehicle is driving, the trajectory including at least a position, a speed, or a direction of the future travel of the object;

determining an expected route of the object, wherein the expected route of the object is a pre-planned route for the object to take and includes an expected future position of the object at a future time;

comparing the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object;

determining a confidence level associated with the expected route of the object based on a result of the comparing;

updating the trajectory of the object based on the expected route of the object and the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object; and

operating the vehicle based on the updated trajectory of the object.

16. A vehicle comprising:

at least one transceiver configured to transmit and receive route information of an object; and

at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and configured to execute computer executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

receiving information indicating a presence of the object operating in an environment of a vehicle during a travel of the vehicle;

determining a trajectory of the object representative of a future travel of the object based on sensor data of one or more sensors of the vehicle while the vehicle is driving, the trajectory including at least a position, a speed, or a direction of the future travel of the object;

determining an expected route of the object, wherein the expected route of the object is a pre-planned route for the object to take and includes an expected future position of the object at a future time;

comparing the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object;

determining a confidence level associated with the expected route of the object based on a result of the comparing;

updating the trajectory of the object based on the expected route of the object and the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object; and

operating the vehicle based on the updated trajectory of the object.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein determining the expected route of the object includes at least one of

receiving route information from a server using the at least one transceiver, or

receiving route information from a transceiver or a mobile device associated with the object.

18. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein comparing the trajectory of the object to the expected route of the object includes determining that the position of the object is an expected position along the expected route.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object comprises:

determining at least one of an accuracy or a reliability of the expected route of the object based on at least one of:

a time when the expected route is updated, or

a reputation of a data source where the expected route is obtained.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein updating the trajectory of the object based on the expected route of the object and the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object comprises one of:

determining that the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object is greater than a predetermined threshold, and updating the trajectory of the object by increasing an emphasis associated with the expected route of the object, or

determining that the confidence level associated with the expected route of the object is lower than a predetermined threshold, and updating the trajectory of the object by decreasing an emphasis associated with the expected route of the object.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 3, 2020
From: DE FRANCESCO, DANIELE; VIJAYALINGAM, ARAVINDKUMAR
To: MOTIONAL AD LLC
Reel/Frame 053687/0729 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220063674A1 · Mar 3, 2022
Cited By (2)
US 12,586,164 US 12,715,434