# US 10,769,457 B1 · System and method for detecting airborne objects > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,769,457 B1 - Document ID: US10769457B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/584,758 - Filed: 2019-09-26 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2019-09-26 - Assignees: Pony Al Inc. - Applicants: Pony AI Inc. - Inventors: Peter G. Diehl; Robert Dingli - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10769457B1 ## CPC - G06V 20/58: Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads - B60W 30/09: Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering - B60W 30/0956: {the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters} - G01S 17/42: Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S17/46) - G01S 17/66: Tracking systems using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves - G01S 17/89: for mapping or imaging - G01S 17/93: for anti-collision purposes - B60W 2554/40: Dynamic objects, e.g. animals, windblown objects - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES ## Abstract Provided herein is a system and method that detects an airborne object and determines a driving action based on the airborne object. The system comprises one or more sensors; one or more processors; a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the system to perform detecting an airborne object within a detection radius of a vehicle. In response to detecting the airborne object, the system performs tracking the airborne object to obtain 3-D coordinate information of the airborne object at distinct times, determining a probability that the airborne object will collide with the one or more sensors based on the 3-D coordinate information, determining a driving action of a vehicle based on the determined probability, and performing the driving action. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: one or more sensors; one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform: detecting an airborne object within a detection radius of a vehicle; in response to detecting the airborne object, tracking the airborne object to obtain 3-D coordinate information of the airborne object at distinct times; determining a probability that the airborne object will collide with the one or more sensors based on the 3-D coordinate information; determining a driving action of a vehicle based on the determined probability, the determining the driving action comprising: if the probability is less than a first threshold, determining the driving action to be maintaining a same navigation route; if the probability is between the first threshold and a second threshold higher than the first threshold, determining the driving action to be swerving or changing lanes to move away from a predicted position of the airborne object; if the probability is between the second threshold and a third threshold higher than the second threshold, determining the driving action to be stopping the vehicle; and if the probability is between the third threshold and a fourth threshold higher than the third threshold, determining the driving action to be changing the navigation route; and A performing the driving action. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the detection radius is determined based on a size of the airborne object. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: estimating a force of collision between the airborne object and the one or more sensors in response to determining the probability; and determining the driving action based on the estimated force of collision. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: obtaining an expected force of collision from a product of the estimated force of collision and the probability; and determining the driving action based on the expected force of collision. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the estimating the force of collision comprises: determining a type of the airborne object; inferring a mass of the airborne object based on the determined type of the airborne object; determining an acceleration of the airborne object based on the 3-D coordinate information of the airborne object at distinct times; and estimating the force of collision based on the inferred mass of the airborne object and the determined acceleration of the airborne object. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the probability that the airborne object will collide with the one or more sensors comprises: determining possible trajectories of the airborne object; obtaining a weighted average of the possible trajectories of the airborne object; and determining a probability that the weighted average overlaps with an estimated trajectory of the vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: detecting a second airborne object within the detection radius of a vehicle; and in response to detecting the second airborne object, updating the possible trajectories of the airborne object based on determined or predicted trajectories of the second airborne object. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: predicting how a vehicle action affects the probability of the collision; and in response to predicting that the vehicle action lowers the probability of the collision, determining the vehicle action as the driving action. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: determining whether to actuate a shield over one of the one or more sensors based on the probability and an estimated force of collision; and in response to determining to actuate the shield, actuating the shield. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, further comprising a piezo motor configured to actuate the shield, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: in response to determining to actuate the shield, determining a location at which the airborne object is most likely to collide with a sensor of the one or more sensors; and actuating a portion of the shield based on the predicted location. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, further comprising a piezo motor configured to actuate the shield, and wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform: in response to determining to actuate the shield, determining a location at which the airborne object will collide with a sensor of the one or more sensors with a highest estimated force; and actuating a portion of the shield based on the predicted location. ### Claim 12 A method implemented by a computing system including one or more processors and storage media storing machine-readable instructions, wherein the method is performed using the one or more processors, the method comprising: detecting an airborne object within a detection radius of a vehicle; in response to detecting the airborne object, tracking the airborne object to obtain 3-D coordinate information of the airborne object at distinct times; determining a probability that the airborne object will collide with one or more sensors based on the 3-D coordinate information; determining a driving action of the vehicle based on the determined probability, the determining the driving action comprising: if the probability is less than a first threshold, determining the driving action to be maintaining a same navigation route; if the probability is between the first threshold and a second threshold higher than the first threshold, determining the driving action to be swerving or changing lanes to move away from a predicted position of the airborne object; if the probability is between the second threshold and a third threshold higher than the second threshold, determining the driving action to be stopping the vehicle; and if the probability is between the third threshold and a fourth threshold higher than the third threshold, determining the driving action to be changing the navigation route; and performing the driving action. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising determining the detection radius based on a size of the airborne object. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: estimating a force of collision between the airborne object and the one or more sensors in response to determining the probability; and determining the driving action based on the estimated force of collision. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining an expected force of collision from a product of the estimated force of collision and the probability; and determining the driving action based on the expected force of collision. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the estimating the force of collision comprises: determining a type of the airborne object; inferring a mass of the airborne object based on the determined type of the airborne object; determining an acceleration of the airborne object based on the 3-D coordinate information of the airborne object at distinct times; and estimating the force of collision based on the inferred mass of the airborne object and the determined acceleration of the airborne object. ### Claim 17 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the probability that the airborne object will collide with the one or more sensors comprises: determining possible trajectories of the airborne object; obtaining a weighted average of the possible trajectories of the airborne object; and determining a probability that the weighted average overlaps with an estimated trajectory of the vehicle. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: detecting a second airborne object within the detection radius of a vehicle; and in response to detecting the second airborne object, updating the possible trajectories of the airborne object based on determined or predicted trajectories of the second airborne object. ### Claim 19 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: predicting how a vehicle action affects the probability of the collision; and in response to predicting that the vehicle action lowers the probability of the collision, determining the vehicle action as the driving action. ### Claim 20 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method comprising: detecting an airborne object within a detection radius of a vehicle; in response to detecting the airborne object, tracking the airborne object to obtain 3-D coordinate information of the airborne object at distinct times; determining a probability that the airborne object will collide with one or more sensors based on the 3-D coordinate information; determining a driving action of the vehicle based on the determined probability, the determining the driving action comprising: if the probability is less than a first threshold, determining the driving action to be maintaining a same navigation route; if the probability is between the first threshold and a second threshold higher than the first threshold, determining the driving action to be swerving or changing lanes to move away from a predicted position of the airborne object; if the probability is between the second threshold and a third threshold higher than the second threshold, determining the driving action to be stopping the vehicle; and performing the driving action.