System and method for cleaning obstructions for the sensors of an autonomous vehicle

An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

• at least one sensor performing normal operation when a field of view of the at least one sensor is clear;
• a user interface;
• a cleaning system for the at least one sensor;
• and
• a processing circuitry configured to:
• retrieve real-time weather data of an environment outside of the autonomous vehicle;
• estimate, based on the real-time weather data, features of obstructions;
• propose, based on the features of the obstructions, one or more cleaning plans to a user, such that the one or more cleaning plans are displayed on the user interface;
• and
• execute, a selected cleaning plan that is selected by the user from the one or more cleaning plans,
• wherein the at least one sensor is configured to detect obstructions that block a field of view of the at least one sensor,
• wherein the user interface is configured to receive the user selection of the selected cleaning plan from the one or more cleaning plans or, in response to the user not selecting from the one or more cleaning plans, a user suggestion for modifying the one or more cleaning plans in response to a query by the processing circuitry,
• wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to adjust the one or more cleaning plans based on the user suggestion, and
• wherein the cleaning system is configured to clean the at least one sensor to remove the obstructions according to one of the selected cleaning plan and the adjusted one or more cleaning plans.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-readable instructions therein which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for cleaning obstructions of at least one sensor of an autonomous vehicle:

• detecting, via a sensor, obstructions that block a field of view of the at least one sensor:
• retrieving real-time weather data of an environment outside of the autonomous vehicle;
• estimating based on the real-time weather data, features of the obstructions of the at least one sensor;
• proposing, based on the features of the obstructions, one or more cleaning plans to a user, such that the one more cleaning plans are relayed on a user interface;
• querying, via the user interface, a selection by the user of a selected cleaning plan regarding the one or more cleaning plans;
• in response to the user selecting one of the one or more cleaning plans that are queried via the user interface, executing, by the processing circuitry and via a cleaning system for the at least ne sensor of the autonomous vehicle, the selected cleaning plan selected by the user;
• in response to the user not selecting one of the one or more cleaning plans that are queried via the user interface, soliciting via the user interface a user suggestion for another cleaning plan, adjusting, by the processing circuitry, the one or more cleaning plans based on the user suggestion, and executing, via the cleaning system for the at least one sensor of the autonomous vehicle, the another cleaning plan suggested by the user.