Cost design for path selection in autonomous driving technology

A non-transitory computer-readable programmed with executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system comprising at least one hardware processor, perform operations that implement a method for determining a least cost path curve for a plurality of path curves for operating an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), the operations comprising:

• generating a plurality of paths as path candidates for an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) to navigate through a lane in view of an obstacle, each path having a plurality of points, wherein each point is associated with a plurality of attributes corresponding to a plurality of categories, each category being associated with a different priority;
• for each of the plurality of paths,
• examining each of the points of the path in view of the obstacle and a lane configuration of the lane to determine whether the point of the path satisfies each of the predetermined categories, and
• assigning a cost value to each of the attributes of the point of the path based on whether the point of the path satisfies a corresponding category of each attribute;
• and
• traversing the attributes of the paths from higher priorities to lower priorities to compare and select a path with a least total cost based on the cost values of the attributes, including removing at least one path from consideration if there is a difference between cost values of attributes of multiple paths with an identical priority.

A system comprising a processing system comprising at least one hardware processor, coupled to a memory programmed with executable instructions that when executed by the processing system, perform operations that implement a method for determining a least cost path curve for a plurality of path curves for operating an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), the operations comprising:

• generating a plurality of paths as path candidates for an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) to navigate through a lane in view of an obstacle, each path having a plurality of points, wherein each point is associated with a plurality of attributes corresponding to a plurality of categories, each category being associated with a different priority;
• for each of the plurality of paths,
• examining each of the points of the path in view of the obstacle and a lane configuration of the lane to determine whether the point of the path satisfies each of the predetermined categories, and
• assigning a cost value to each of the attributes of the point of the path based on whether the point of the path satisfies a corresponding category of each attribute;
• and
• traversing the attributes of the paths from higher priorities to lower priorities to compare and select a path with a least total cost based on the cost values of the attributes, including removing at least one path from consideration if there is a difference between cost values of attributes of multiple paths with an identical priority.