Methods and systems for controlling a steering system of a vehicle

A method for controlling a steering system of a vehicle during an autonomous steering development mode, comprising:

• performing, by one or more computing devices, high-authority autonomous steering control of a steering system of the vehicle, the high-authority autonomous steering control preventing an operator from directly taking over steering control;
• receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a request to exit autonomous steering control;
• transitioning, by the one or more computing devices, from the high-authority autonomous steering control to low-authority autonomous steering control of the steering system for a predetermined time period in response to receiving the request to exit autonomous steering control, the low-authority autonomous steering control allowing an operator to directly take over steering control;
• and
• exiting, by the one or more computing devices, the low-authority autonomous steering control and enabling manual steering control of a manual input device of the steering system when at least one of another request to exit autonomous steering control is received before the predetermined time period elapses or an input from a braking system of the vehicle is received.

A computing system for controlling a steering system of a vehicle during an autonomous steering development mode, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more memory devices, the one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the computing system to:
• perform high-authority autonomous steering control of a steering system of the vehicle, the high-authority autonomous steering control preventing an operator from directly taking over steering control;
• receive an input from at least one sensor of the steering system indicative of manual operation of the steering system by an operator of the vehicle;
• transition from the high-authority autonomous steering control to a low-authority autonomous steering control of the steering system for a predetermined time period in response to receiving the input from the at least one sensor, the low-authority autonomous steering control allowing an operator to directly take over steering control;
• and
• exit the low-authority autonomous steering control and enable manual steering control of a manual input device of the steering system when at least one of another input from the at least one sensor of the steering system indicative of manual operation of the steering system by an operator of the vehicle is received before the predetermined time period elapses or an input from a braking system of the vehicle is received.