# US 11,307,579 B2 · Fault-tolerant control of an autonomous vehicle with multiple control lanes > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,307,579 B2 - Document ID: US11307579B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/322,231 - Filed: 2021-05-17 - Published: 2021-09-02 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-09-14 - Assignees: Uatc, LLC - Applicants: Uatc, LLC - Inventors: Aaron L. Greenfield; Diana Yanakiev; Frederic Tschanz; Charles J. Tytler - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11307579B2 ## CPC - G05D 1/0077: {using redundant signals or controls} - B60W 50/023: Avoiding failures by using redundant parts - B60W 50/029: Adapting to failures or work around with other constraints, e.g. circumvention by avoiding use of failed parts - B60W 60/0016: {of the vehicle or its occupants} - B60W 60/00186: {related to the vehicle} - G01C 21/1652: {with ranging devices, e.g. LIDAR or RADAR} - 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 1/247: using signals provided by artificial sources external to the vehicle, e.g. navigation beacons - G05D 1/87: using redundant control arrangements - G06F 11/20: using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements - G06F 11/2025: {using centralised failover control functionality} - G06F 11/2028: {eliminating a faulty processor or activating a spare} - G06F 11/2038: {with a single idle spare processing component} - G06F 11/2041: {with more than one idle spare processing component} - B60W 2050/0292: {Fail-safe or redundant systems, e.g. limp-home or backup systems} - G06F 2201/81: Threshold - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract In one example embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes receiving data representing a motion plan of the autonomous vehicle via a plurality of control lanes configured to implement the motion plan to control a motion of the autonomous vehicle, the plurality of control lanes including at least a first control lane and a second control lane, and controlling the first control lane to implement the motion plan. The method includes detecting one or more faults associated with implementation of the motion plan by the first control lane or the second control lane, or in generation of the motion plan, and in response to one or more faults, controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on one or more fault reaction parameters associated with the one or more faults. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An autonomous vehicle control system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the autonomous vehicle control system to perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving motion planning data for a vehicle; determining a first control lane of a plurality of control lanes for implementing a motion plan based on the motion planning data, wherein the plurality of control lanes comprise at least the first control lane and a second control lane different than the first control lane, wherein the first control lane is connected with a first set of vehicle actuation systems corresponding to the first control lane, wherein the second control lane is connected with a second set of vehicle actuation systems corresponding to the second control lane, wherein the first set of vehicle actuation systems comprise at least one first actuation system that is not present in the second set of vehicle actuation systems; determining one or more conditions associated with the vehicle; and controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust a motion of the vehicle based at least in part on the one or more conditions. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle comprises a ground-based autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 2, wherein the ground-based autonomous vehicle comprises an autonomous truck. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the motion planning data is indicative of a vehicle trajectory, and wherein controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the vehicle comprises: controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to: generate one or more vehicle control signals to track the vehicle trajectory; and provide the one or more vehicle control signals to at least one of the first set of vehicle actuation systems or at least one of the second set of vehicle actuation systems. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the motion planning data is indicative of a vehicle trajectory, and wherein controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the vehicle comprises: controlling the first control lane to: generate one or more first vehicle control signals to track at least a first portion of the vehicle trajectory; and provide the one or more first vehicle control signals to at least one of the first set of vehicle actuation systems; and controlling the second control lane to: generate one or more second vehicle control signals to track at least a second portion of the vehicle trajectory; and provide the one or more second vehicle control signals to at least one of the second set of vehicle actuation systems. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the first set of vehicle actuation systems comprise: a first powertrain control system comprising one or more propulsion actuators for a propulsion or an acceleration of the vehicle; a first steering control system comprising one or more steering actuators for the vehicle; and a first braking control system comprising one or more braking actuators for the vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 6, wherein the second set of vehicle actuation systems comprise: a second steering control system comprising one or more steering actuators for the vehicle; and a second braking control system comprising one or more braking actuators for the vehicle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 7, wherein the first steering actuators function independently of the second steering actuators, and wherein the first braking actuators function independently of the second braking actuators. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the first control lane is associated with a first capability based, at least in part, on the first set of vehicle actuation systems, wherein the second control lane is associated with a second capability based, at least in part, on the second set of vehicle actuation systems, and wherein the first capability is different than the second capability. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 9, wherein the one or more conditions are associated with one or more reaction parameters, and wherein controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the vehicle based at least in part on the one or more conditions comprises: controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the vehicle based at least in part on the one or more reaction parameters associated with the one or more conditions, wherein the one or more reaction parameters are indicative of a first reduction in the first capability or a second reduction in the second capability in response to the one or more conditions. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle control system is on-board the vehicle. ### Claim 12 An autonomous vehicle comprising: a plurality of actuators configured to implement one or more vehicle control signals to control a motion of the autonomous vehicle; and a vehicle control system, wherein the vehicle control system comprises: one or more processors; and one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the vehicle control system to perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving motion planning data for the autonomous vehicle; determining a first control lane of a plurality of control lanes for implementing a motion plan based on the motion planning data, wherein the plurality of control lanes comprise at least the first control lane and a second control lane different than the first control lane, wherein the first control lane is connected with a first set of the plurality of actuators corresponding to the first control lane, wherein the second control lane is connected with a second set of the plurality of actuators corresponding to the second control lane, wherein the first set of actuators comprise at least one first actuator ion system that is not present in the second set of actuators; determining one or more conditions associated with the autonomous vehicle; and controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more conditions. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The autonomous vehicle of claim 12, wherein the autonomous vehicle comprises an autonomous truck. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The autonomous vehicle of claim 12, further comprising: an autonomous driving system configured to generate at least a first portion of the motion planning data for the autonomous vehicle and provide the first portion of the motion planning data to the vehicle control system. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The autonomous vehicle of claim 14, wherein the first portion of the motion planning data is indicative of one or more primary trajectories and one or more stopping trajectories. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The autonomous vehicle of claim 15, further comprising: a computing system configured to generate at least a second portion of the motion planning data for the autonomous vehicle and provide the second portion of the motion planning data to the vehicle control system. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The autonomous vehicle of claim 16, wherein the autonomous driving system is associated with a first set of vehicle sensors and the computing system is associated with a second set of vehicle sensors, wherein the first set of vehicle sensors is different than the second set of vehicle sensors. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The autonomous vehicle of claim 16, wherein the second portion of the motion planning data is indicative of one or more objects within a surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The autonomous vehicle of claim 16, wherein controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more conditions comprises: determining a vehicle action based at least in part on the first portion of the motion planning data, the second portion of the motion planning data, and the one or more conditions; and controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust the motion of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle action. ### Claim 20 A computer-implemented method, the method comprising: receiving motion planning data for an autonomous vehicle; determining a first control lane of a plurality of control lanes for implementing a motion plan based on the motion planning data, wherein the plurality of control lanes comprise at least the first control lane and a second control lane different than the first control lane, wherein the first control lane is connected with a first set of vehicle actuation systems corresponding to the first control lane, wherein the second control lane is connected with a second set of vehicle actuation systems corresponding to the second control lane, wherein the first set of vehicle actuation systems comprise at least one first actuation system that is not present in the second set of vehicle actuation systems; determining one or more conditions associated with the autonomous vehicle; and controlling the first control lane or the second control lane to adjust a motion of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the one or more conditions.