Detecting and responding to people directing traffic for autonomous vehicles
AssigneeWaymo LLC
InventorsDavid Harrison Silver, Carl Kershaw, Pankaj Chaudhari
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The technology relates to detecting a person directing traffic. For instance, a first vehicle may be controlled in an autonomous driving mode. Sensor data is received from a perception system of the first vehicle, the sensor data identifying a person. Behavior of the person is observed using the sensor data. The observed behavior of the person and the observed behavior of a second vehicle are used to determine a likelihood value indicative of whether the person is directing traffic. The first vehicle is maneuvered in the autonomous driving mode based on the determined likelihood value.
Claims18
A method of detecting a person directing traffic, the method comprising:
- controlling, by one or more processors, a first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode;
- receiving, by the one or more processors, sensor data from a perception system of the first vehicle, the sensor data identifying a person;
- observing, by the one or more processors, behavior of the person using the sensor data;
- using, by the one or more processors, the observed behavior of the person and observed behavior of a second vehicle to determine a likelihood value indicative of whether the person is directing traffic;
- determining a result indicating whether the determined likelihood value meets a threshold value;
- and
- maneuvering, by the one or more processors, the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode based on the result.
A system for detecting a person directing traffic, the system comprising one or more processors configured to:
- control a first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode;
- receive sensor data from a perception system of the first vehicle, the sensor data identifying a person;
- observe behavior of the person using the sensor data;
- use the observed behavior of the person and the observed behavior of a second vehicle to determine a likelihood value indicative of whether the person is directing traffic;
- determine a result indicating whether the determined likelihood value meets a threshold value;
- and
- maneuver the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode based on the result.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.