Method for controlling an autonomous commercial vehicle when transporting oversized loads

A method for controlling an autonomous commercial vehicle when transporting oversized loads, the method comprising:

• determining, based on sensor data determined by environment sensors of the autonomous commercial vehicle or on data of a digital map, navigable areas including lanes in a direction of travel of the autonomous commercial vehicle, against the direction of travel of the autonomous commercial vehicle, and hard shoulders, wherein the determined navigable areas are determined in a form of respective polygons in which the autonomous commercial vehicle may be present, the respective polygons including at least a first polygon including the lanes in the direction of travel of the autonomous commercial vehicle, a second polygon including the lanes against the direction of travel of the autonomous commercial vehicle, and a third polygon including hard shoulders;
• determining, by a behavior module, a behavior of the autonomous commercial vehicle depending on the determined navigable areas, objects identified based on the sensor data, and an intrinsic movement estimation;
• transmitting, by the behavior module to a movement planning module, at least one corridor command;
• planning, by the movement planning module, a trajectory or a path of the autonomous commercial vehicle that avoids a collision with identified objects based on the at least one corridor command;
• and
• controlling, by a movement control module of the autonomous commercial vehicle based on the planned trajectory or the planned path, the autonomous commercial vehicle such that the autonomous commercial vehicle follows the planned trajectory or the planned path,
• wherein the respective polygons are merged by a drivable surface generator module to form a compound polygon in order to determine the navigable areas,
• wherein the autonomous commercial vehicle has a tractor unit and a trailer or semi-trailer,
• wherein the behavior module has a first behavior group that generates a corridor command to keep the tractor unit and the trailer within lane boundaries delimited by the first polygon, and the behavior module has a second behavior group that generates a corridor command to keep the tractor unit and trailer within the boundaries of navigable areas defined by the compound polygon,
• wherein a corridor command decision-maker decides to use the corridor command of the second behavior group if an oversized trailer or semi-trailer is attached or an oversized load is being transported, and in the corridor command decision-maker otherwise uses the corridor command of the first behavior group, and
• wherein the first behavior group defines a lane behavior, a merge behavior, a positioning behavior, a highway courtesy behavior, a junction behavior, and a minimum risk maneuver behavior, wherein the second behavior group defines a positioning behavior and a minimum risk maneuver behavior.