Positioning vehicles to improve quality of observations at intersections

An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform functions comprising:

• storing a map for a vehicle, wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous operation mode that supports a plurality of driving behaviors, and wherein the map comprises information about a plurality of roads, a plurality of features, and visibility information for at least a first feature in the plurality of features;
• querying the map for visibility information for the first feature at a first position of the vehicle, wherein the first position is associated with an intersection of at least two roads in the plurality of roads, wherein the visibility information comprises visibility information for a plurality of sub-positions of the vehicle, wherein at least one sub-position of the plurality of sub-positions is associated with a designated sub-lane position of a lane position of a lane of one road of the at least two roads, wherein the lane position is specified with respect to a plurality of sub-lane positions, the plurality of sub-lane positions comprising the designated sub-lane position, and wherein each sub-lane position in the plurality of sub-lane positions specifies a position within a width of the lane;
• in response to the query, receiving the visibility information for the first feature at the first position of the vehicle;
• selecting a driving behavior for the vehicle based on the visibility information;
• and
• controlling the vehicle using the computing device in accordance with the selected driving behavior.

A computing device, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to computing device to perform functions, comprising:
• storing a map for a vehicle in the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous operation mode that supports a plurality of driving behaviors, and wherein the map comprises information about a plurality of roads, a plurality of features, and visibility information for at least a first feature in the plurality of features,
• querying the map for visibility information for the first feature at a first position of the vehicle, wherein the first position is associated with an intersection of at least two roads in the plurality of roads, wherein the visibility information comprises visibility information for a plurality of sub-positions of the vehicle, wherein at least one sub-position of the plurality of sub-positions is associated with a designated sub-lane position of a lane position of a lane of one road of the at least two roads, wherein the lane position is specified with respect to a plurality of sub-lane positions, the plurality of sub-lane positions comprising the designated sub-lane position, and wherein each sub-lane position in the plurality of sub-lane positions specifies a position within a width of the lane,
• in response to the query, receiving the visibility information for the first feature at the first position of the vehicle,
• selecting a driving behavior for the vehicle based on the visibility information, and
• controlling the vehicle in accordance with the selected driving behavior.