Systems and methods for overlap-aware ranking of navigation avoidance areas for autonomous vehicles

A method for generating a prioritized order for resolution of avoidance areas in an operational area of an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:

• identifying a plurality of avoidance area groups based upon a set of avoidance areas, the avoidance areas specifying geographic areas through which autonomous vehicles are prohibited from being routed, each of the avoidance area groups comprising at least one avoidance area in the set of avoidance areas, wherein a first avoidance area group in the avoidance area groups shares at least one avoidance area with a second avoidance area group in the avoidance area groups, wherein the avoidance area groups are identified based upon distances between the avoidance areas;
• constructing a graph representation of the plurality of avoidance area groups, the graph comprising:
• vertices, wherein each vertex is representative of a different avoidance area group in the avoidance area groups;
• and
• edges, each edge in the edges connecting two respective vertices in the vertices;
• and
• generating a ranking of the avoidance area groups based upon the graph representation, the ranking indicative of relative impacts of the avoidance area groups on routing metrics for a set of routes through an operational area of an autonomous vehicle;
• and
• issuing a dispatch instruction to an autonomous vehicle (AV) based upon the ranking of the avoidance area groups, the dispatch instruction configured to cause the AV to navigate to an avoidance area and to perform a mapping operation in the avoidance area, wherein the avoidance area is included in an avoidance area group in the plurality of avoidance area groups.

A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

• receiving a set of avoidance areas, wherein the avoidance areas identify geographic areas through which autonomous vehicles are prohibited from being routed
• identifying a plurality of avoidance area groups based upon a set of routes through an operational area of an autonomous vehicle, each of the avoidance area groups comprising at least one avoidance area in the set of avoidance areas, wherein a first avoidance area group in the avoidance area groups shares at least one avoidance area with a second avoidance area group in the avoidance area groups;
• constructing a graph representation of the plurality of avoidance area groups, the graph comprising:
• vertices, wherein each vertex is representative of a different avoidance area group in the avoidance area groups;
• and
• edges, each edge in the edges connecting two respective vertices in the vertices, each of the edges being assigned a respective weight, the weight of an edge in the edges being based upon a number of avoidance areas shared between the avoidance area groups represented by the vertices connected by the edge;
• generating a ranking of the avoidance area groups based upon the graph representation, the ranking indicative of relative impacts of the avoidance area groups on routing metrics for a set of routes through an operational area of an autonomous vehicle;
• and
• issuing a dispatching instruction to an autonomous vehicle based upon the ranking of the avoidance area groups, the dispatching instruction configured to cause the autonomous vehicle to navigate to an avoidance area and perform a mapping operation with respect to the avoidance area.