Human Supervision of an Automated Driving System

A computing system, comprising:

• a first motion planning module configured to determine a first motion plan that controls an autonomous vehicle towards a first destination;
• a second motion planning module configured to determine a second motion plan that controls the autonomous vehicle towards a second destination that is different than the first destination;
• and
• a motion plan controller configured to:
• receive data representing the first motion plan and the second motion plan;
• prior to receiving an input from a passenger of the autonomous vehicle, issue one or more first control signals to control the autonomous vehicle according to the first motion plan;
• determine that the input is received from the passenger of the autonomous vehicle;
• and
• in response to determining that the input is received, issue one or more second control signals to abort the first motion plan and to control the autonomous vehicle according to the second motion plan.

An autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle comprising:

• a first motion planning module configured to determine a first motion plan that controls the autonomous vehicle towards a first destination;
• a second motion planning module configured to determine a second motion plan that controls the autonomous vehicle towards a second destination that is different than the first destination;
• and
• a motion plan controller configured to:
• receive data representing the first motion plan and the second motion plan;
• prior to receiving an input from a passenger of the autonomous vehicle, issue one or more first control signals to control the autonomous vehicle according to the first motion plan;
• determine that the input is received from the passenger of the autonomous vehicle;
• and
• in response to determining that the input is received, issue one or more second control signals to abort the first motion plan and to control the autonomous vehicle according to the second motion plan.

A computer implemented method implemented by a computing system that comprises a first motion planning module and a second motion planning module that is redundant to the first motion planning module, wherein the first motion planning module is configured to determine a first motion plan, wherein the second motion planning module is configured to determine a second motion plan, and wherein the first motion planning module and the second motion planning module share sensor data but separately determine the first motion plan and the second motion plan, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a motion plan controller, data representing the first motion plan and the second motion plan;
• prior to receiving an input from a passenger of an autonomous vehicle, issuing, by the motion plan controller, one or more first control signals to control the autonomous vehicle according to the first motion plan;
• determining, by the motion plan controller, that the input is received from the passenger of the autonomous vehicle;
• and
• in response to determining that the input is received, issuing, by the motion plan controller, one or more second control signals to abort the first motion plan and to control the autonomous vehicle according to the second motion plan.