Inferring state of traffic signal and other aspects of a vehicle's environment based on surrogate data

A vehicle, comprising:

• one or more sensors, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to acquire sensor data, wherein the sensor data relates to one or more aspects of an environment of a vehicle observed by the one or more sensors, and wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous mode;
• an inference system, wherein the inference system is configured to infer, based on the sensor data, at least one aspect of the environment of the vehicle that is not observed by the one or more sensors, wherein the inference system is further configured to determine a confidence level based on the at least one inferred aspect of the environment of the vehicle, at least one previous inference, and at least one previous outcome;
• and
• a control system, wherein the control system is configured to control the vehicle in the autonomous mode based on the at least one inferred aspect of the environment of the vehicle and the confidence level.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computer system to cause the computer system to perform functions, the functions comprising:

• obtaining sensor data from one or more sensors observing one or more aspects of an environment of a vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are operationally associated with the vehicle, and wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous mode;
• inferring, based on the sensor data, at least one aspect of the environment of the vehicle that is not observed by the one or more sensors;
• determining a confidence level based on the at least one inferred aspect of the environment of the vehicle, at least one previous inference, and at least one previous outcome;
• and
• controlling the vehicle in the autonomous mode based on the at least one inferred aspect of the environment of the vehicle and the confidence level.

A method, comprising:

• obtaining sensor data from one or more sensors observing at least one light source in an environment of a vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are operationally associated with the vehicle, wherein a state of a controlling traffic signal is not directly observable using the one or more sensors, wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous mode;
• using an inference system to infer, based on the sensor data, an inferred state of the controlling traffic signal;
• and
• controlling the vehicle in the autonomous mode based on the inferred state of the controlling traffic signal.