Dual buffer system to ensure a stable nudge for autonomous driving vehicles

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• perceiving a driving environment surrounding an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), including perceiving one or more obstacles within a view of the ADV;
• for an obstacle of the one or more obstacles,
• tracking the obstacle for a predetermined number of planning cycles or until the obstacle is no longer within the view of the ADV;
• determining if the obstacle is perceived for a first time;
• if the obstacle is perceived for the first time, associating a first buffer zone with the obstacle;
• if a previous planning decision for the obstacle is not a nudge decision, associating the first buffer zone with the obstacle;
• otherwise, associating a second buffer zone with the obstacle;
• and
• based on the associated buffer zone for the obstacle, determining a current planning decision to nudge the obstacle to ensure a buffer distance between the ADV and the obstacle;
• generating a trajectory for the ADV based on the current planning decision for the one or more obstacles;
• and
• controlling the ADV to navigate according to the trajectory.

A data processing system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• perceiving a driving environment surrounding an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), including perceiving one or more obstacles within a view of the ADV;
• for an obstacle of the one or more obstacles,
• tracking the obstacle for a predetermined number of planning cycles or until the obstacle is no longer within the view of the ADV;
• determining if the obstacle is perceived for a first time;
• if the obstacle is perceived for the first time, associating a first buffer zone with the obstacle;
• if a previous planning decision for the obstacle is not a nudge decision, associating the first buffer zone with the obstacle;
• otherwise, associating a second buffer zone with the obstacle;
• and
• based on the associated buffer zone for the obstacle, determining a current planning decision to nudge the obstacle to ensure a buffer distance between the ADV and the obstacle;
• generating a trajectory for the ADV based on the current planning decision for the one or more obstacles;
• and
• controlling the ADV to navigate according to the trajectory.