Autonomous vehicle maneuver system for emergency vehicles and non-standard traffic flow
AssigneeState Farm Mutual Automotive Insurance Company
InventorMatthew L. Floyd
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods are provided that may to cause autonomous navigation of autonomous vehicles in the case of non-standard traffic flows such as police stops, emergency vehicle passing, construction sites, vehicle collision sites, and other non-standard road conditions. An entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow (e.g., an emergency vehicle, road sign, barrier, etc.) may transmit or broadcast a control signal to be received (or otherwise detected) at one or more autonomous vehicles. Each autonomous vehicle, upon receiving the control signal, may autonomously navigate in accordance with the control signal, thus mitigating or eliminating dangers associated with non-standard traffic flows.
Claims16
A computer-implemented method for automatically navigating an autonomous vehicle based upon one or more control signals, the method comprising:
- receiving or otherwise detecting, at a computing device of an autonomous vehicle via one or more processors or sensors, one or more control signals transmitted or broadcasted via an entity associated with a non-standard traffic flow,
- wherein the one or more control signals indicate at least one of (i) a navigation intent associated with the entity, or (ii) a navigation command for the autonomous vehicle;
- automatically controlling, via the one or more processors, autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle in accordance with the one or more control signals;
- determining, via the one or more processors, that the autonomous vehicle has met or exceeded a predetermined distance from the entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow, the determination being based at least in part upon an observed frequency of the one or more control signals meeting or passing a predetermined frequency threshold;
- and
- in response to the determination that the autonomous vehicle has met or exceeded the predetermined distance from the entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow, ceasing the automatic control of the autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle according to the one or more control signals.
A computer system configured to automatically navigate an autonomous vehicle based upon one or more control signals, the computer system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- one or more computer memories storing a set of computer-executable instructions that, when executed via the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:
- receive or otherwise detect, via the one or more processors or via one or more sensors, one or more control signals transmitted or broadcasted via an entity associated with a non-standard traffic flow,
- wherein the one or more control signals indicate at least one of (i) a navigation intent associated with the entity, or (ii) a navigation command for the autonomous vehicle,
- automatically control, via the one or more processors, autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle in accordance with the one or more control signals;
- determine, via the one or more processors, that the autonomous vehicle has met or exceeded a predetermined distance from the entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow, the determination being based at least in part upon an observed frequency of the one or more control signals meeting or passing a predetermined frequency threshold, and
- in response to the determination that the autonomous vehicle has met or exceeded the predetermined distance from the entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow, cease the automatic control of the autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle according to the one or more control signals.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing non-transitory computer-readable instructions that, when executed via one or more processors of a computing device, cause the one or more processors to automatically navigate an autonomous vehicle based upon a control signal, the non-transitory computer readable instructions comprising instructions to:
- receive or otherwise detect, via the one or more processors or via one or more sensors, one or more control signals transmitted or broadcasted via an entity associated with a non-standard traffic flow,
- wherein the one or more control signals indicate at least one of (i) a navigation intent associated with the entity, or (ii) a navigation command for the autonomous vehicle,
- automatically control autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle in accordance with the one or more control signals,
- determine, via the one or more processors, that the autonomous vehicle has met or exceeded a predetermined distance from the entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow, the determination being based at least in part upon an observed frequency of the one or more control signals meeting or passing a predetermined frequency threshold, and
- in response to the determination that the autonomous vehicle has met or exceeded the predetermined distance from the entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow, cease the automatic control of the autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle according to the one or more control signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.