Protective action for protecting autonomous vehicles from impending weather conditions

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory device coupled to the processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage device coupled to the processor, wherein the storage device contains program code executable by the processor via the memory device to implement a method for protecting an autonomous vehicle from damage caused by impending weather conditions, the method comprising:
• detecting, by a processor of a computing system, the impending weather conditions for a geographic region, and in response to detecting the impending weather conditions, determining that an initial location of the autonomous vehicle is located in the geographic region affected by the impending weather conditions;
• calculating, by the processor, a current risk of damage to the autonomous vehicle based on the impending weather conditions in the geographic region and a current state of the autonomous vehicle;
• comparing, by the processor, the current risk of damage to a threshold of acceptable risk of damage, wherein, the current risk of damage exceeds a threshold of acceptable risk;
• assessing, by the processor, a user calendar to determine that taking a protective action by the autonomous vehicle is acceptable;
• determining, by the processor, which protective action to take based on the current risk of damage and the current state of the autonomous vehicle to change the current state of the autonomous vehicle to a safe state;
• and
• instructing, by the processor, the autonomous vehicle to take the protective action so that the current state of the autonomous vehicle is changed to the safe state to avoid damage from the impending weather conditions.

A computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device storing a computer readable program code, the computer readable program code comprising an algorithm that when executed by a computer processor of a computing system implements a method for protecting an autonomous vehicle from damage caused by impending weather conditions, the method comprising:

• detecting, by a processor of a computing system, the impending weather conditions for a geographic region, and in response to detecting the impending weather conditions, determining that an initial location of the autonomous vehicle is located in the geographic region affected by the impending weather conditions;
• calculating, by the processor, a current risk of damage to the autonomous vehicle based on the impending weather conditions in the geographic region and a current state of the autonomous vehicle;
• comparing, by the processor, the current risk of damage to a threshold of acceptable risk of damage, wherein, the current risk of damage exceeds a threshold of acceptable risk;
• assessing, by the processor, a user calendar to determine that taking a protective action by the autonomous vehicle is acceptable;
• determining, by the processor, which protective action to take based on the current risk of damage and the current state of the autonomous vehicle to change the current state of the autonomous vehicle to a safe state;
• and
• instructing, by the processor, the autonomous vehicle to take the protective action so that the current state of the autonomous vehicle is changed to the safe state to avoid damage from the impending weather conditions.