# US 2023/0406348 A1 · Control architectures for autonomous vehicles > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2023/0406348 A1 - Document ID: US20230406348A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 18/460,288 - Filed: 2023-09-01 - Published: 2023-12-21 - Earliest claimed: 2020-03-03 - Assignees: Motional AD LLC - Applicants: Motional Ad LLC - Inventors: Juraj KABZAN; Hans ANDERSEN; Lixun LIN; Ning WU; Yiming ZHAO; Xiyuan LIU; Qian WANG; Zachary BATTS; Jesse Adam MILLER; Boaz Cornelis FLOOR; Marc Dominik HEIM - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230406348A1 ## CPC - B60W 30/09: Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering - B60W 60/001: {Planning or execution of driving tasks} - B60W 10/04: including control of propulsion units - B60W 10/20: including control of steering systems - B60W 60/00: Drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles - B60W 60/0011: {involving control alternatives for a single driving scenario, e.g. planning several paths to avoid obstacles} - G05D 1/0088: {characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours (using knowledge based models G06N5/00)} - G05D 1/0223: {involving speed control of the vehicle (vehicle fittings for automatically controlling, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator B60K31/00)} - B60W 2050/0033: {Single-track, 2D vehicle model, i.e. two-wheel bicycle model} - B60W 2556/10: Historical data - B60W 2556/45: External transmission of data to or from the vehicle - B60W 2710/20: Steering systems - B60W 2720/10: Longitudinal speed - B60W 2720/103: Speed profile - B60W 2720/12: Lateral speed - B60W 2754/20: Lateral distance - B60W 2754/30: Longitudinal distance - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES ## Abstract The subject matter described in this specification is generally directed control architectures for an autonomous vehicle. In one example, a reference trajectory, a set of lateral constraints, and a set of speed constraints are received using a control circuit. The control circuit determines a set of steering commands based at least in part on the reference trajectory and the set of lateral constraints and a set of speed commands based at least in part on the set of speed constraints. The vehicle is navigated, using the control circuit, according to the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: one or more computer processors; and one or more non-transitory storage media storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause performance of operations comprising: while a vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode: receiving, using a control circuit, a reference trajectory, a set of lateral constraints, and a set of speed constraints; determining, using the control circuit, a curvature of the reference trajectory; determining, using the control circuit, a set of steering commands and a set of speed commands based on the curvature of the reference trajectory, the set of lateral constraints, and the set of speed constraints; and in response to determining that the determined set of steering commands and the set of speed commands satisfy a safety factor, navigating, using the control circuit, the vehicle according to the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein determining the set of steering commands includes: determining a lateral position of the vehicle over time based on a plurality of steering factors; and determining the set of steering commands based at least in part on the determined lateral position of the vehicle over time. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of steering factors comprise one of more of a distance of the vehicle to an obstacle, a distance of the vehicle from the reference trajectory, or a threshold of lateral change. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the threshold of lateral change comprises a maximum allowed rate of turning of the vehicle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein determining the set of speed commands includes: determining a target speed of the vehicle over time that satisfies a comfort factor within the set of speed constraints; and determining the set of speed commands based at least in part on the determined target speed of the vehicle over time. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the comfort factor comprises an acceleration or deceleration rate within predetermined acceleration or deceleration comfort boundaries. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the safety factor comprises an estimated likelihood of the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands resulting in a collision or dangerous/illegal maneuver being less than a threshold. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the reference trajectory comprises a path with respect to time received from a planning module of the vehicle. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the set of lateral constraints comprise maximum distances to left and right sides of the vehicle configured to enable the vehicle to safely veer from the reference trajectory at different points in time. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the set of speed constraints comprise one or more of roadway speed limits, physical acceleration or deceleration limits of the vehicle, or predetermined acceleration or deceleration comfort boundaries. ### Claim 11 A method comprising: receiving, using a control circuit, a reference trajectory, a set of lateral constraints, and a set of speed constraints; determining, using the control circuit, a curvature of the reference trajectory; determining, using the control circuit, a set of steering commands and a set of speed commands based on the curvature of the reference trajectory, the set of lateral constraints, and the set of speed constraints; and in response to determining that the determined set of steering commands and the set of speed commands satisfy a safety factor, navigating, using the control circuit, the vehicle according to the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein determining the set of steering commands includes: determining a lateral position of the vehicle over time based on a plurality of steering factors; and determining the set of steering commands based at least in part on the determined lateral position of the vehicle over time. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of steering factors comprise one of more of a distance of the vehicle to an obstacle, a distance of the vehicle from the reference trajectory, or a threshold of lateral change. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the threshold of lateral change comprises a maximum allowed rate of turning of the vehicle. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein determining the set of speed commands includes: determining a target speed of the vehicle over time that satisfies a comfort factor within the set of speed constraints; and determining the set of speed commands based at least in part on the determined target speed of the vehicle over time. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the comfort factor comprises an acceleration or deceleration rate within predetermined acceleration or deceleration comfort boundaries. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the safety factor comprises an estimated likelihood of the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands resulting in a collision or dangerous/illegal maneuver being less than a threshold. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the set of lateral constraints comprise maximum distances to left and right sides of the vehicle configured to enable the vehicle to safely veer from the reference trajectory at different points in time. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the set of speed constraints comprise one or more of roadway speed limits, physical acceleration or deceleration limits of the vehicle, or predetermined acceleration or deceleration comfort boundaries. ### Claim 20 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more computer processors, cause performance of operations comprising: receiving, using a control circuit, a reference trajectory, a set of lateral constraints, and a set of speed constraints; determining, using the control circuit, a curvature of the reference trajectory; determining, using the control circuit, a set of steering commands and a set of speed commands based on the curvature of the reference trajectory, the set of lateral constraints, and the set of speed constraints; and in response to determining that the determined set of steering commands and the set of speed commands satisfy a safety factor, navigating, using the control circuit, the vehicle according to the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands.