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US 2018/0321677 A1Published application
Autonomous vehicle with independent auxiliary control units
AssigneeUber Technologies, Inc.
InventorsNicholas Letwin, Sean Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An autonomous vehicle which includes multiple independent control systems that provide redundancy as to specific and critical safety situations which may be encountered when the autonomous vehicle is in operation.
Claims20
An autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a first set of vehicle sensors that monitor an environment outside the autonomous vehicle;
- a second set of vehicle sensors, separate from the first set of vehicle sensors, that monitor the environment outside the autonomous vehicle;
- a primary control system to control the autonomous vehicle, including to (i) receive first sensor input from the first set of vehicle sensors, (ii) determine, from the first sensor input, a state of the environment, (iii) determine, based on the state of the environment, trajectory data representing a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle, and (iv) generate, based on the trajectory data, one or more control parameters for controlling the autonomous vehicle;
- and
- an auxiliary control unit, operating independently of the primary control system, to (i) receive second sensor input from the second set of vehicle sensors, (ii) receive trajectory data from the primary control system, (iii) detect a predefined condition or event from the second sensor input, and (iv) in response to detecting the predefined condition or event, generate a vehicle response output based at least in part on the second sensor input and the trajectory data.
2 more elements
A method for operating an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
- autonomously controlling the autonomous vehicle in operation using a primary control system coupled to a first set of vehicle sensors that monitor an environment outside the autonomous vehicle;
- determining, from first sensor input from the first set of vehicle sensors, a state of the environment;
- determining, based on the state of the environment, trajectory data representing a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle;
- operating an auxiliary control unit, coupled to a second set of vehicle sensors, separate from the first set of vehicle sensors, that monitor the environment outside the autonomous vehicle, to detect a predefined condition or event, the auxiliary control unit being independent of the primary control system;
- receiving, by the auxiliary control unit, trajectory data from the primary control system;
- and
- generating, using the auxiliary control unit, a vehicle response output based on the detected predefined condition or event, second sensor input from the second set of vehicle sensors, and the trajectory data.
4 more elements
A control system for an autonomous vehicle, the control system comprising:
- a primary control system to control the autonomous vehicle, including to (i) receive first sensor input from a first set of vehicle sensors that monitor an environment outside the autonomous vehicle, (ii) determine, from the first sensor input, a state of the environment, (iii) determine, based on the state of the environment, trajectory data representing a planned trajectory of the autonomous vehicle, and (iv) generate, based on the trajectory data, one or more control parameters for controlling the autonomous vehicle;
- and
- an auxiliary control unit, operating independently of the primary control system, to (i) receive second sensor input from a second set of vehicle sensors, separate from the first set of vehicle sensors, that monitor the environment outside the autonomous vehicle, (ii) receive trajectory data from the primary control system, (iii) detect a predefined condition or event from the second sensor input, and (iv) in response to detecting the predefined condition or event, generate a vehicle response output based at least in part on the second sensor input and the trajectory data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.