Methods and systems for vehicle control under degraded lane perception range

A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:

• in a first processor executed mode:
• a motion planner of the vehicle determines a desired trajectory based on perception data provided by a perception system of the vehicle, wherein the perception data is representative of a forward looking scene of the vehicle, the motion planner provides the desired trajectory to a lateral controller of the vehicle and the lateral controller generates control commands for an Electronic Power Steering (EPS) system of the vehicle based on an error between the desired trajectory and an actual trajectory at a first look-ahead (LA) point, wherein the actual trajectory is determined by the lateral controller based on a vehicle dynamics model and vehicle dynamics data provided by a sensing system of the vehicle;
• the motion planner receives lane information from the perception system including a range of the lane information;
• the motion planner receives the first LA point from the lateral controller;
• and
• the motion planner compares the first LA point and the range to determine whether the range extends to a range end point that is closer to the vehicle than the first LA point;
• and
• the method includes switching to a second processor executed mode in response to determining that the range extends to a range end point that is closer to the vehicle than the first LA point;
• in the second processor executed mode:
• the motion planner requests the lateral controller to provide a closer LA point relative to the vehicle;
• the lateral controller determines the closer LA point and sends the closer LA point to the motion planner, wherein the lateral controller generates the control commands for the EPS system based on the error between the desired trajectory and the actual trajectory at the closer LA point;
• and
• the motion planner generates the desired trajectory based on the perception data and the closer LA point.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a sensing system configured to provide vehicle dynamics data;
• a perception system configured to provide perception data representing a forward looking scene of the vehicle;
• an Electronic Power Steering (EPS) system;
• at least one processor in operable communication with the perception system and the EPS system, the at least one processor configured to execute program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the at least one processor to implement a motion planner and a lateral controller in a control loop, wherein the program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
• execute a first mode:
• wherein the motion planner is configured to determine a desired trajectory based on the perception data and to provide the desired trajectory to the lateral controller and the lateral controller is configured to generate control commands for the EPS system based on an error between the desired trajectory and an actual trajectory at a first look-ahead (LA) point, wherein the actual trajectory is determined by the lateral controller based on a vehicle dynamics model and the vehicle dynamics data;
• and
• wherein the motion planner is configured to receive lane information from the perception system including a range of the lane information;
• wherein the motion planner is configured to receive the first LA point from the lateral controller;
• and
• wherein the motion planner is configured to compare the first LA point and the range to determine whether the range extends to a range end point that is closer to the vehicle than the first LA point;
• and
• the program instructions configured to cause the at least one processor to switch to a second mode in response to determining that the range extends to a range end point that is closer to the vehicle than the first LA point;
• in the second mode:
• the motion planner configured to request the lateral controller to provide a closer LA point relative to the vehicle;
• the lateral controller configured to determine the closer LA point and send the closer LA point to the motion planner, wherein the lateral controller is configured to generate the control commands for the EPS system based on the error between the desired trajectory and the actual trajectory at the closer LA point;
• and
• the motion planner configured to generate the desired trajectory based on the perception data and the closer LA point.