System of configuring active lighting to indicate directionality of an autonomous vehicle

A bidirectional autonomous vehicle comprising:

• one or more light emitters;
• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
• receive data representing a trajectory in an environment;
• cause the bidirectional autonomous vehicle to navigate in a first direction of travel that corresponds to the trajectory, wherein a first end of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle is facing the first direction of travel;
• select a light emitter of the one or more light emitters, the light emitter being configured to emit light into the environment;
• cause, using data representing a first directional light pattern, the light emitter to emit the light to visually convey the first direction of travel of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle;
• cause the bidirectional autonomous vehicle to navigate in a second direction of travel, wherein a second end of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle is facing the second direction of travel;
• and
• cause, using data representing a second directional light pattern, the light emitter or an additional light emitter of the one or more light emitters to emit the light to visually convey the second direction of travel of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle,
• wherein the second directional light pattern and the first directional light pattern are substantially symmetric about an axis of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle.

A method for visual indication of direction of travel of a bidirectional autonomous vehicle, comprising:

• detecting that the bidirectional autonomous vehicle is navigating in a first direction;
• causing one or more light emitters on the bidirectional autonomous vehicle to emit a first light pattern based at least in part on detecting that the bidirectional autonomous vehicle is navigating in the first direction;
• detecting that the bidirectional autonomous vehicle is navigating in a second direction, the second direction being opposite to the first direction;
• and
• causing the one or more light emitters to emit a second light pattern based at least in part on detecting that the bidirectional autonomous vehicle is navigating in the second direction,
• wherein the second light pattern and the first light pattern are substantially symmetric about an axis of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle.