# US 11,079,754 B2 · Multi-stage operation of autonomous vehicles > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,079,754 B2 - Document ID: US11079754B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/563,381 - Filed: 2019-09-06 - Published: 2020-02-13 - Granted: 2021-08-03 - Earliest claimed: 2017-08-10 - Assignees: Udelv Inc. - Applicants: Udelv Inc. - Inventors: Akshat Patel; Hugo Boyer; Vineet Singh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11079754B2 ## CPC - G05D 1/0038: {by providing the operator with simple or augmented images from one or more cameras located onboard the vehicle, e.g. tele-operation (images analyzed by a computer and used for automatic navigation G05D1/0246)} - G05D 1/00: Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots (drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00) - G05D 1/0027: {involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00)} - G05D 1/0276: {using signals provided by a source external to the vehicle (involving a plurality of vehicles G05D1/0287; automatically controlling vehicle speed responsive to externally generated signals B60K31/0058)} - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES ## Abstract Systems and methods for operating a vehicle by switching between an autonomous control system within the vehicle and a remote operator are described herein. For the handover between the autonomous control system and the remote operator, the system can process current maneuvering parameters of the vehicle to at least select a teleoperation control type. The system can also generate a concurrent feature profile including a set of automated features that are configured to be implemented during teleoperation of the vehicle. The system can implement the handover of vehicle control according to the teleoperation control type while the vehicle autonomously or semi-autonomously operates according to the concurrent feature profile. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method of operating a system for controlling a vehicle, the method comprising: initiating teleoperation of the vehicle according to one or more current maneuvering parameters of the vehicle, wherein: the current maneuvering parameters represent a status of the vehicle or a portion thereof, an environment surrounding the vehicle, or a combination thereof, and the teleoperation is for operating the vehicle according to control inputs from an operator located remotely from the vehicle; generating a concurrent feature profile, wherein the concurrent feature profile represents one or more automated or semi-automated features to be implemented during teleoperation of the vehicle; and processing one or more teleoperation commands from the remote operator while the vehicle operates according to the concurrent feature profile. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: detecting the one or more current maneuvering parameters at the vehicle; communicating the one or more current maneuvering parameters to a teleoperation center; wherein: initiating the teleoperation includes sending a handover request from the vehicle to the teleoperation center; and processing the one or more teleoperation commands includes implementing the one or more teleoperation commands at the vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, at a teleoperation center, the one or more current maneuvering parameters from the vehicle; receiving, at the teleoperation center, a handover request from the vehicle; wherein: initiating the teleoperation includes notifying a remote operator based on receiving the handover request; and processing the one or more teleoperation commands includes sending the one or more teleoperation commands from the teleoperation center to the vehicle. ### Claim 4 A method of operating a system for controlling a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving one or more current maneuvering parameters from the vehicle, wherein the current maneuvering parameters represent a status of the vehicle or a portion thereof, an environment surrounding the vehicle, or a combination thereof; receiving a handover request from the vehicle for teleoperating the vehicle; generating a concurrent feature profile based on the one or more current maneuvering parameters, wherein the concurrent feature profile represents one or more automated or semi-automated features to be implemented during teleoperation of the vehicle; and sending the concurrent feature profile to the vehicle for implementation at the vehicle during the teleoperation. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the concurrent feature profile includes features associated with a driver assistance system, a partial automation system, and/or a conditional automation system, wherein— the driver assistance system provides driving mode-specific features associated with either steering or acceleration/deceleration, the partial automation system is a driver assistance system that provides driving mode-specific execution with both steering and acceleration/deceleration, and the conditional automation system is an automated driving system that provides driving mode-specific performance of at least some aspects of the dynamic driving task with the expectation that a human driver will respond appropriately to a request to intervene. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising: notifying a remote operator based on the handover request; receiving a confirmation from the remote operator following the notification, wherein the confirmation represents an input from the remote operator to begin teleoperation; and displaying to the remote operator the current maneuvering parameters based on the notification and/or the confirmation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising: generating one or more teleoperation commands based on inputs from the remote operator; and sending the one or more teleoperation commands to the vehicle, wherein the one or more teleoperation commands are configured to be implemented at the vehicle contemporaneously with the concurrent feature profile. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting a teleoperation control type based on the current maneuvering parameters, wherein the teleoperation control type indicates a timing associated with the one or more teleoperation commands used to teleoperate the vehicle. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: identifying a teleoperation trigger type based on the current maneuvering parameters, wherein the teleoperation trigger type represents a cause initiating the teleoperation including a component failure of one or more components within the vehicle; and wherein: selecting the teleoperation control type includes selecting the teleoperation control type based on the teleoperation trigger type. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: identifying a teleoperation trigger type based on the current maneuvering parameters, wherein the teleoperation trigger type represents a cause initiating the teleoperation including a vehicle-derived decision with a confidence level that falls below a threshold; and wherein: selecting the teleoperation control type includes selecting the teleoperation control type based on the teleoperation trigger type. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein: the teleoperation control type includes a path designation mode for operating the vehicle to autonomously traverse an operator-generated path representing a set of geographic locations designated by the remote operator for the vehicle to follow; and further comprising: sending the operator-generated path to the vehicle for the path designation mode. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: determining a pre-handover maneuver command according to the current maneuvering parameters, wherein the pre-handover maneuver command is for maneuvering the vehicle before the teleoperation; and sending the pre-handover maneuver command before the teleoperation commands. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the pre-handover maneuver command corresponds to an emergency stop for stopping the vehicle until the teleoperation commands. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the pre-handover maneuver command corresponds to a speed reduction for slowing the vehicle until the teleoperation commands. ### Claim 15 A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method of operating a system for controlling a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving one or more current maneuvering parameters from the vehicle, wherein the current maneuvering parameters represent a status of the vehicle or a portion thereof, an environment surrounding the vehicle, or a combination thereof; receiving a handover request from the vehicle for teleoperating the vehicle; notifying a remote operator based on the handover request; generating a concurrent feature profile based on the one or more current maneuvering parameters, wherein the concurrent feature profile represents one or more automated or semi-automated features to be implemented during teleoperation of the vehicle; generating an override set based on the one or more current maneuvering parameters, wherein the override set represents autonomous features of the vehicle that are to be stopped or withheld during teleoperation; and sending the concurrent feature profile and/or the override set to the vehicle for implementation at the vehicle during the teleoperation. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the override set includes one or more of: an automatic maneuvering feature implemented to maintain the vehicle traveling within a lane, a path calculation feature, and/or an adaptive cruise control feature. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the concurrent feature profile includes an automatic emergency braking feature and/or a lane-veering notice feature configure to be implemented autonomously without direct commands from an operator. ### Claim 18 A vehicle control system, comprising: a communication circuit configured to communicate with a vehicle; an interface circuit configured to interact with a remote operator; at least one computer-based processor operably coupled to the interface circuit and the communication circuit; and at least one computer-based memory operably coupled to the computer-based processor and having stored thereon instructions executable by the computer-based processor to cause the computer-based processor to: identify a handover request received through the communication circuit, wherein the handover request is from the vehicle for requesting teleoperation of the vehicle, determine one or more current maneuvering parameters received through the communication circuit, wherein the current maneuvering parameters represent a status of the vehicle or a portion thereof, an environment surrounding the vehicle, or a combination thereof from the vehicle, operate the interface circuit based on the handover request to interface with the remote operator for teleoperating the vehicle, generate the concurrent feature profile based on comparing the one or more current maneuvering parameters to predetermined values representative of conditions or scenarios for the condition and/or the environment, wherein the concurrent feature profile represents one or more automated or semi-automated features to be implemented during teleoperation of the vehicle, and operate the communication circuit to send the concurrent feature profile. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The vehicle control system of claim 18, further comprising: calculating an autonomous feature threshold according to the current maneuvering parameters, wherein the autonomous feature threshold represents distances measured from the vehicle used to validate or ignore data sensed or processed by the vehicle; and sending the autonomous feature threshold to the vehicle, wherein the autonomous feature threshold represents threshold distances for implementing or ignoring the automated or the semi-automated features at the vehicle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The vehicle control system of claim 19, further comprising: receiving an identification of an upcoming abnormality from the vehicle, wherein the identification represents a predetermined condition outside of an expected or safe driving environment as determined based on the one or more current maneuvering parameters; adjusting the autonomous feature threshold and/or the concurrent feature profile according to the identification. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The vehicle control system of claim 20, wherein: adjusting the autonomous feature threshold includes increasing or decreasing a threshold distance in front of the vehicle when the identification represents a person or an unidentified object on a road ahead of the vehicle; and adjusting the concurrent feature profile includes enabling an emergency stop feature based on movement of object into an area in front of vehicle.