Granted Patent B1

US 12,600,367 · App. 18/112,231 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Inventors: Lakshay Garg (Palo Alto, CA); Joona Markus Petteri Kiiski (Cupertino, CA)

Assignee: Zoox, Inc.

B60W50/06B60W30/09G01C21/32G01C21/3461B60W2050/065B60W2554/802B60W2556/40

Abstract

Claims (86)

1 . A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

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

receiving, from a sensor device associated with a vehicle, sensor data associated with an environment;

detecting, based at least in part on the sensor data, an object in the environment;

determining a location of the object within the environment, the location being defined in a first coordinate system;

determining, based at least in part on the location, that the object is located within a cell of discretized map data;

receiving a candidate road associated with the cell, wherein the candidate road includes a segment;

determining that the object is associated with the segment;

receiving, from the cell and based at least in part on determining that the object is associated with the segment, an approximation of the segment, wherein the approximation is determined at a previous time;

determining, as a set of coordinates in a second coordinate system, a first distance relative to the object from a first point along the approximation and a second distance of the object relative to a second point along the approximation; and

controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the first distance and the second distance.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first distance indicates a measurement of the object along the candidate road, the candidate road being represented as a reference line, wherein determining the first distance comprises:

identifying a start point of the reference line;

identifying a second segment of the reference line between the start point and the segment, wherein the second segment is associated with a second approximation; and

determining, based at least in part on a sum of a first length the second approximation and at least a portion of a second length of the approximation, the first distance.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second coordinate system is a relative reference frame.

4 . The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:

receiving a second candidate road associated with the cell, wherein the second candidate road includes a second segment and a second approximation;

determining that the object is associated with the second segment;

determining a third distance relative to the object from a third point along the second approximation and a fourth distance of the object relative to a fourth point along the second approximation; and

controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the first distance, the second distance, the third distance, and the fourth distance.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the discretized map data is determined based at least in part on generating a plurality of cells associated with map data, the cell being associated with the plurality of cells, wherein the cell includes a cell identifier associated with a candidate road identifier of the candidate road.

6 . One or more non transitory computer readable media storing instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving sensor data associated with an environment;

detecting, based at least in part on the sensor data, an object in the environment;

determining a location of the object within the environment;

determining, based at least in part on the location, that the object is located within a cell of discretized map data;

receiving a candidate road associated with the cell, wherein the candidate road includes a segment;

determining that the object is associated with the segment;

receiving, from the cell and based at least in part on the object being associated with the segment, an approximation of the segment, wherein the approximation is determined at a previous time;

determining a first distance relative to the object from a first point along the approximation and a second distance of the object relative to a second point along the approximation; and

controlling a vehicle based at least in part on the first distance and the second distance.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the approximation is determined by a remote system and stored in the cell.

8 . The one or more non transitory computer readable media of claim 6 , wherein the first distance indicates a measurement of the object along the candidate road, the candidate road being represented as a reference line, wherein determining the first distance comprises:

identifying a start point of the reference line;

identifying a second segment of the reference line between the start point and the segment, wherein the second segment is associated with a second approximation; and

determining, based at least in part on a sum of a first length of the second approximation and at least a portion of a second length of the approximation, the first distance.

9 . The one or more non transitory computer readable media of claim 6 , wherein the first distance and the second distance are in a relative coordinate system and the location is in a Cartesian coordinate system.

10 . The one or more non transitory computer readable media of claim 6 , the operations further comprising:

receiving a second candidate road associated with the cell, wherein the second candidate road includes a second segment and a second approximation;

determining that the object is associated with the second segment;

determining a third distance relative to the object from a third point along the second approximation and a fourth distance of the object relative to a fourth point along the second approximation; and

controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the first distance, the second distance, the third distance, and the fourth distance.

11 . The one or more non transitory computer readable media of claim 6 , wherein the discretized map data is determined based at least in part on generating a plurality of cells associated with map data, the cell being associated with the plurality of cells, wherein the cell includes a cell identifier associated with a candidate road identifier of the candidate road.

12 . The one or more non transitory computer readable media of claim 6 , wherein the approximation is determined based at least in part on:

receiving a reference line associated with the candidate road;

determining a value associated with a difference between the approximation and the segment; and

determining that the value is less than or equal to a threshold value.

13 . The one or more non transitory computer readable media of claim 12 , wherein determining the approximation further comprises:

determining the value is greater than the threshold value;

dividing the segment into a plurality of subsegments;

determining a second approximation for a subsegment of the plurality of subsegments;

determining, based at least in part on the second approximation, a second value; and

determining that the second value is less than or equal to the threshold value.

14 . A method comprising:

receiving sensor data associated with an environment;

detecting, based at least in part on the sensor data, an object in the environment;

determining a location of the object within the environment;

determining, based at least in part on the location, that the object is located within a cell of discretized map data;

receiving a candidate road associated with the cell, wherein the candidate road includes a segment;

determining that the object is associated with the segment;

receiving, from the cell and based at least in part on the object being associated with the segment, an approximation of the segment, wherein the approximation is determined at a previous time;

determining a first distance relative to the object from a first point along the approximation and a second distance of the object relative to a second point the approximation; and

controlling a vehicle based at least in part on the first distance and the second distance.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the first distance indicates a measurement of the object along the candidate road, the candidate road being represented as a reference line, wherein determining the first distance comprises:

identifying a start point of the reference line;

identifying a second segment of the reference line between the start point and the segment, wherein the second segment is associated with a second approximation; and

determining, based at least in part on a sum of a first length of the second approximation and at least a portion of a second length of the approximation, the first distance.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the first distance and the second distance are in a relative coordinate system and the location is in a Cartesian coordinate system.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving a second candidate road associated with the cell, wherein the second candidate road includes a second segment and a second approximation;

determining that the object is associated with the second segment;

determining a third distance relative to the object from a third point along the second approximation and a fourth distance of the object relative to a fourth point along the second approximation; and

controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the first distance, the second distance, the third distance, and the fourth distance.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the discretized map data is determined based at least in part on generating a plurality of cells associated with map data, the cell being associated with the plurality of cells, wherein the cell includes a cell identifier associated with a candidate road identifier of the candidate road.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the approximation is determined based at least in part on:

receiving a reference line associated with the candidate road;

determining a value associated with a difference between the approximation and the segment; and

determining that the value is less than or equal to a threshold value.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein determining the approximation further comprises:

determining the value is greater than the threshold value;

dividing the segment into a plurality of subsegments;

determining a second approximation for a subsegment of the plurality of subsegments;

determining, based at least in part on the second approximation, a second value; and

determining that the second value is less than or equal to the threshold value.

Assignments (1)

References Cited (22)