Granted Patent B2

US 12,498,723 · App. 18/447,516 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Inventors: Timothy Caldwell (Boulder, CO); Ravi Gogna (San Jose, CA); Meredith James Goldman (Redwood City, CA); Frank Reinaldo Ramirez (San Francisco, CA); Matthew Miller Young (San Francisco, CA); Rick Zhang (San Mateo, CA)

Assignee: Zoox, Inc.

G05D1/0212G05D1/0088G06F9/451G06F3/0482G06F3/04845

Abstract

Claims (97)

1 . A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the system to:

transmit, from a vehicle, a request for guidance input for navigating in response to an event;

receive a waypoint including an orientation and a position, wherein the orientation indicates a yaw of the vehicle at the position;

determine, based at least in part on the position and the orientation of the waypoint, a violation indicating that the waypoint violates a safety protocol; and

based at least in part on determining the violation, refrain from controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the waypoint.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the request for guidance input is a first request and the waypoint is a first waypoint, wherein the instructions further configure the system to:

transmit, from the vehicle, a second request for guidance input for navigating in response to the event;

receive a second waypoint associated with a second orientation and a second position;

determine, as a validation, that the second waypoint complies with the safety protocol and that additional information received indicates a condition being met; and

based at least in part on the validation, control the vehicle based at least in part on the second waypoint.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein prior to transmitting the request for guidance the vehicle is being controlled in accordance with a trajectory, and wherein the instructions further configure the system to:

based at least in part on controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the second waypoint, cause the vehicle to resume controlling the vehicle based in accordance with the trajectory.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the violation further comprises:

receiving additional information associated with a connection with a remote guidance computing device, the additional information including a latency and a bandwidth of the connection; and

determining at least one of:

the latency being above a threshold latency, or

the bandwidth being below a threshold bandwidth.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein determining the violation further includes determining at least one of:

a velocity of the vehicle is above a threshold velocity,

a number of sensors available to provide sensor data is below a threshold number, or

that the vehicle is associated with a health related fault.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is being controlled in accordance with a trajectory, and wherein the instructions configure the system to:

receive a hold signal, wherein the hold signal instructs the vehicle to hold at a hold position; and

based at least in part on receiving the hold signal, cause the vehicle to hold at the hold position.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are on-board the vehicle, and the instructions further configure the system to:

determine, based on the waypoint, a trajectory of the vehicle from a current position and a current orientation of the vehicle to the orientation and the position included in the waypoint,

wherein determining the violation is further based on the trajectory.

8 . A method comprising:

transmitting, from a vehicle, a request for guidance;

receiving a waypoint including an orientation and a position;

determining, based at least in part on the position and the orientation of the waypoint, a violation indicating that the waypoint violates a safety protocol; and

based at least in part on determining the violation, refraining from controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the waypoint.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving a hold signal, wherein the hold signal instructs the vehicle to hold at a hold position;

based at least in part on receiving the hold signal, causing the vehicle to hold at the hold position;

receiving a release signal, wherein the release signal comprises an instruction to control the vehicle to the waypoint; and

controlling the vehicle to the waypoint.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the waypoint comprises a first waypoint, the method further comprising:

receiving a second waypoint;

determining, as a validation, that at least one of the second waypoint complies with the safety protocol and that additional information indicates that a condition is met; and

based at least in part on determining the validation, control the vehicle based at least in part on the waypoint.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining that the waypoint is associated with a terminating condition associated with an event;

receiving, from a remote guidance system, an instruction for the vehicle to autonomously control the vehicle after completing an operation associated with the waypoint;

determining, as a validation, that the waypoint complies with the safety protocol;

based at least in part on the validation, controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the waypoint; and

based at least in part on receiving the instruction, controlling the vehicle along a previous trajectory.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein transmitting the request is performed in response to at least one of:

an obstacle in a path of the vehicle;

a scenario outside a capability of the vehicle;

a scenario that violates an operations protocol of the vehicle;

a driveline beyond a line of sight of the vehicle;

a construction zone in the path of the vehicle; or

a sensor vision impairment of the vehicle based on a road condition.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle is traversing a route and wherein transmitting the request is based at least in part on an obstacle along the route, the method further comprising:

receiving a second waypoint including a second orientation and a second position;

determining that the second waypoint is within a threshold distance of the route;

determining, based at least in part on the threshold distance, that the obstacle is behind the vehicle;

determining, based at least in part on the obstacle being behind the vehicle, that a terminating condition for receiving guidance is met; and

based at least in part on determining that the terminating condition is met, controlling the vehicle autonomously without additional external input.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the violation further comprises:

receiving additional information associated with a connection with a remote guidance computing device, the additional information including a latency and a bandwidth of the connection; and

determining at least one of:

the latency being above a threshold latency, or

the bandwidth being below a threshold bandwidth.

15 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

transmitting, from a vehicle, a request for guidance;

receiving a waypoint including an orientation and a position;

determining, based at least in part on the position and the orientation of the waypoint, a violation indicating that the waypoint violates a safety protocol; and

based at least in part on determining the violation, refraining from controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the waypoint.

16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

receiving a hold signal, wherein the hold signal instructs the vehicle to hold at a hold position;

based at least in part on receiving the hold signal, causing the vehicle to hold at the hold position;

receiving a release signal, wherein the release signal comprises an instruction to control the vehicle to the waypoint; and

controlling the vehicle to the waypoint.

17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the waypoint is a first waypoint, the operations further comprising:

receiving a second waypoint associated with a second orientation and a second position;

determining that the second waypoint complies with the safety protocol;

based at least in part on determining the waypoint complies with the safety protocol, validating second the waypoint; and

based on validating the second waypoint, controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the second waypoint.

18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle is traversing a route, the operations further comprising:

determining an obstacle along the route;

receiving a second waypoint including a second orientation and a second position;

determining that the second waypoint is within a threshold distance of the route;

determining, based at least in part on the threshold distance, that the obstacle is behind the vehicle;

determining, based at least in part on the obstacle being behind the vehicle, that a terminating condition for receiving guidance is met; and

based at least in part on determining that the terminating condition is met, controlling the vehicle autonomously and independently from the second waypoint.

19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein determining the violation further comprises:

receiving additional information associated with a connection with a remote guidance computing device, the additional information including a latency and a bandwidth of the connection; and

determining at least one of:

the latency is above a threshold latency,

the bandwidth is below a threshold bandwidth,

a velocity of the vehicle is above a threshold velocity, or

a number of sensors available to provide sensor data is below a threshold number.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the position and the orientation included in the waypoint is provided, in response to the request, by an operator at a remote guidance computing device.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (62)