Operator assistance for autonomous vehicles

A system for controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

• hardware processing circuitry;
• and
• one or more hardware memories storing instructions that when executed configure the hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
• generating a route for the autonomous vehicle, the route defining waypoints between an origin location and a destination location to cause the autonomous vehicle to be routed to each waypoint between the origin location and the destination location;
• determining a type of the autonomous vehicle based on data provided by a manufacturer of the autonomous vehicle;
• identifying based on the type of the autonomous vehicle, a route portion of the generated route that requires remote assistance in response to a determination that visibility available to one or more sensors included on the autonomous vehicle is inadequate to provide for successful autonomous operation;
• causing, via a wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle to autonomously execute the generated route until a vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle detects that the autonomous vehicle is located within a predetermined threshold distance from a waypoint associated with the route portion of the generated route that requires remote assistance;
• receiving, via the wireless communication link, a request for the remote assistance with servicing the route based on the vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle detecting that the autonomous vehicle is located within the predetermined threshold distance from the waypoint associated with the route portion of the generated route that requires the remote assistance;
• processing the request to determine which one of a plurality of reasons, each associated with a different reason code value, triggered transmission of the request for the remote assistance;
• causing, via the wireless communication link, the vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle to accept remote control commands including a change in a control setting of the autonomous vehicle;
• receiving, via the wireless communication link, input defining the change in the control setting of the autonomous vehicle, the input comprising an instruction for the autonomous vehicle to move forward by a specified distance to obtain better visibility of the one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle;
• generating control signals based on the input defining the change in the control setting of the autonomous vehicle, the change in the control setting comprising at least one of a throttle position setting, a steering position setting, a brake setting, or an acceleration setting;
• causing, via the wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle to execute the control signals;
• and
• causing, via the wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle to resume the autonomous execution of the generated route after completion of the route portion that requires the remote assistance.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed configure hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:

• generating a route for an autonomous vehicle, the route defining waypoints between an origin location and a destination location to cause the autonomous vehicle to be routed to each waypoint between the origin location and the destination location;
• determining a type of the autonomous vehicle based on data provided by a manufacturer of the autonomous vehicle;
• identifying based on the type of the autonomous vehicle, a route portion of the generated route that requires remote assistance in response to a determination that visibility available to one or more sensors included on the autonomous vehicle is inadequate to provide for successful autonomous operation;
• causing, via a wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle to autonomously execute the generated route until a vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle detects that the autonomous vehicle is located within a predetermined threshold distance from a waypoint associated with the route portion of the generated route that requires remote assistance;
• receiving, via the wireless communication link, a request for the remote assistance with servicing the route based on the vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle detecting that the autonomous vehicle is located within the predetermined threshold distance from the waypoint associated with the route portion of the generated route that requires the remote assistance;
• processing the request to determine which one of a plurality of reasons, each associated with a different reason code value, triggered transmission of the request for the remote assistance;
• causing, via the wireless communication link, the vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle to accept remote control commands including a change in a control setting of the autonomous vehicle;
• receiving, via the wireless communication link, input defining the change in the control setting of the autonomous vehicle, the input comprising an instruction for the autonomous vehicle to move forward by a specified distance to obtain better visibility of the one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle;
• generating control signals based on the input defining the change in the control setting of the autonomous vehicle, the change in the control setting comprising at least one of a throttle position setting, a steering position setting, a brake setting, or an acceleration setting;
• causing, via the wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle to execute the control signals;
• and
• causing, via the wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle to resume the autonomous execution of the generated route after completion of the route portion that requires the remote assistance.