Safety-aware comparator for redundant subsystems in autonomous vehicles

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• a data bus coupled to the processor;
• and
• a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, the computer-usable medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer program code used for determining safety conflicts of a vehicle and comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for:
• receiving data structures of objects in a world environment of the vehicle from multiple redundant subsystems, wherein each subsystem provides a projected world model or path plan for the vehicle;
• comparing the data structures of projected world model or path plan of the multiple redundant subsystems;
• determining based on the comparing if the projected world model or path plan of the multiple redundant subsystems match or do not match;
• and
• determining based on the comparing if a safety conflict exists if the vehicle intersects with an object.

A device comprising:

• a comparator that
• receives data structures of objects in a world environment of a vehicle from multiple redundant subsystems, wherein each subsystem provides a projected world model or path plan of the vehicle;
• compares the data structures of projected world models or path plans of the multiple redundant subsystems;
• determines based on the compared data structures, if the projected world models or path plans of the multiple redundant subsystems match or do not match;
• and
• determines based on the compared data structures, if a safety conflict exists if the vehicle geometrically intersects with an object.