Autonomous vehicle technology for facilitating safe stopping according to separate paths

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon instructions executable by one or more processors to implement a control architecture for controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

• instructions for receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to sense an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating;
• instructions for generating, based on the sensor data, a set of signals descriptive of a current state of the environment;
• instructions for generating, based on the set of signals descriptive of the current state of the environment, a normal path plan to move the autonomous vehicle toward a destination during a first time period;
• instructions for generating, based on the set of signals, a safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle during the first time period;
• instructions for causing, during a first portion of the first time period, the autonomous vehicle to follow a first portion of the normal path plan;
• instructions for, in response to a fault condition associated with operation of the autonomous vehicle being detected within a predetermined initial portion of the first time period, causing the autonomous vehicle to follow the safe path plan;
• instructions for generating, subsequent to causing the autonomous vehicle to follow the safe path plan and based on an updated set of signals descriptive of an updated current state of the environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, (i) an updated normal path plan to move the autonomous vehicle toward the destination during a second time period, and (ii) an updated safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle during the second time period;
• and
• instructions for causing, during a first portion of the second time period, the autonomous vehicle to cease following the safe path plan and return to normal operation by following a first portion of the updated normal path plan.

A system within an autonomous vehicle, the system comprising:

• a set of sensors configured to generate a set of sensor data associated with operation of the autonomous vehicle;
• and
• a computing system configured to:
• generate, based on the set of sensor data, a set of signals descriptive of a current state of an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating,
• process the set of signals to:
• generate a normal path plan to (i) move the autonomous vehicle toward a destination during a first time period, and (ii) begin execution at a first time of the first time period, and
• generate a safe path plan to (i) safely stop the autonomous vehicle during the first time period, and (ii) begin execution at a second time of the first time period after the first time,
• cause, during a first portion of the first time period, the autonomous vehicle to follow a first portion of the normal path plan,
• detect, within a predetermined initial portion of the first time period, a fault condition associated with operation of the autonomous vehicle,
• after detecting the fault condition, cause the autonomous vehicle to follow the safe path plan,
• subsequent to causing the autonomous vehicle to follow the safe path plan, generate an updated set of signals descriptive of an updated current state of the environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, and process the updated set of signals to:
• generate an updated normal path plan to move the autonomous vehicle toward the destination during a second time period, and
• generate an updated safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle during the second time period, and
• cause, during a first portion of the second time period, the autonomous vehicle to cease following the safe path plan and return to normal operation by following a first portion of the updated normal path plan.