WO2019070272A1

WO2019070272A1 - Adventure mode for autonomous vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2019070272A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/055293
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin James Rhodes; Chad Bednar; Mahmoud Abdelhamid
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2017-10-05
Filing date: 2017-10-05
Publication date: 2019-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 2020-04-05

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle includes a steering and powertrain arrangement and a controller. The controller is programmed to, responsive to a request for adventure mode being received, operate the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments randomly selected by the controller.

Description

ADVENTURE MODE FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for operating an autonomous vehicle in an adventure mode that includes a randomly generated route.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Vehicles may include autonomous driving systems configured to drive the vehicle without user input. Autonomous driving systems receive data from on-board vehicle systems, such as cameras, Radar, etc., as well as from external sources. This data is used to generate commands, e.g., steering, braking, and acceleration, for autonomously driving the vehicle.

SUMMARY

[0003] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an autonomous vehicle includes a steering and powertrain arrangement and a controller. The controller is programmed to, responsive to a request for adventure mode and occupant-age data being received, operate the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments selected by the controller based on the occupant-age data. A distance of the wandering route may be based on the occupant-age data, and the distance may increase as a value of the occupant-age data increases. Each of the segments may have attribute data that includes an average speed limit of the segment, and the segments may be selected by the controller such that the average speed limit of the segments changes based on the occupant-age data. The segments may be further selected by the controller based on crime-rate data. The controller may be programmed to received an abort adventure mode command and end the wandering route by operating the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a second route to the beginning location.

[0004] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an autonomous vehicle includes a powertrain, a steering system, and a controller. The controller is programmed to receive crime-rate data from a remote server, and, in response to a request for adventure mode, operate the powertrain and the steering system to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments selected by the controller based on the crime-rate data. Each of the segments may have an associated crime-rate index based on the crime-rate data, and the route may be generated such that the crime-rate index of each segment is below a threshold. The controller may be further programmed to poll a user for a crime-rate tolerance, and the threshold may be based on the crime-rate tolerance.

[0005] According to yet another aspect of this disclosure, a method of operating an autonomous vehicle having a steering and powertrain arrangement is presented. The method includes, responsive to a request for adventure mode, operating the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments selected by a vehicle controller such that a city-highway index of the segments changes based on user-input data. The method may further include ending the wandering route and operating the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a second route to the beginning location in response to a user request to abort adventure mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an example vehicle.

[0007] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an example autonomous-driving system.

[0008] Figure 3 is an example control strategy for operating a vehicle in adventure mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.

[0010] Referring to Figure 1, an example vehicle 20 includes a powerplant 21 (such as an engine and/or an electric machine) that provides torque to driven wheels 22 that propel the vehicle forward or backward. The propulsion may be controlled by a driver of the vehicle via an accelerator pedal or, autonomously by a vehicle controller 50. The vehicle 20 includes a braking system 24 having disks 26 and calipers 28. (Alternatively, the vehicle could have drum brakes.) The braking system 24 may be controlled by the driver via the brake pedal or by the controller 50. The vehicle 20 also includes a steering system 30. The steering system 30 may include a steering wheel 32, a steering shaft 34 interconnecting the steering wheel to a steering rack 36 (or steering box). The front wheels 22 are connected to the steering rack 36 via tie rods 40. A steering sensor 38 may be disposed proximate the steering shaft 34 to measure a steering angle. The steering sensor 38 is configured to output a signal to the controller 50 indicating the steering angle. The vehicle 20 also includes a speed sensor 42 that may be disposed at the wheels 22 or in the transmission. The speed sensor 42 is configured to output a signal to the controller 50 indicating the speed of the vehicle. A yaw sensor 44 is in communication with the controller 50 and is configured to output a signal indicating the yaw of the vehicle 20.

[0011] The vehicle 20 includes a cabin having a display 46 in electronic communication with the controller 50. The display 46 may be a touchscreen that both displays information to the passengers of the vehicle and functions as an input. The display 46 may include physical buttons. A person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many different display and input devices are available and that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular display. An audio system 48 is disposed within the cabin and may include one or more speakers for providing information and entertainment to the driver and/or passengers. The system 48 may also include a microphone for receiving inputs. [0012] The vehicle 20 also includes a vision system for sensing areas external to the vehicle.

The vision system may include a plurality of different types of sensors and devices such as cameras, ultrasonic sensors, RADAR, LIDAR, and combinations thereof. The vision system is in electronic communication with the controller 50 for controlling the functions of various components. The controller may communicate via a serial bus (e.g., Controller Area Network (CAN)) or via dedicated electrical conduits. The controller generally includes any number of microprocessors, ASICs, ICs, memory (e.g., FLASH, ROM, RAM, EPROM and/or EEPROM) and software code to co-act with one another to perform a series of operations. The controller also includes predetermined data, or "look up tables" that are based on calculations and test data, and are stored within the memory. The controller may communicate with other vehicle systems and controllers over one or more wired or wireless vehicle connections using common bus protocols (e.g., CAN and LIN). Used herein, a reference to "a controller" refers to one or more controllers. The controller 50 receives signals from the vision system and includes memory containing machine-readable instructions for processing the data from the vision system. The controller 50 is programmed to output instructions to at least a display 46, an audio system 48, the steering system 30, and the braking system 24, and the powerplant 21 to autonomously operate the vehicle.

[0013] Figure 2 illustrates an example autonomous-driving system 62. The system 62 includes the controller 50 having at least one processor 64 in communication with the main memory 66 that stores one or more sets of instructions 68. The processor 64 is configured to communicate with the memory 66, access the set of instructions 68, and execute the set of instructions 68 causing the driving system 62 to perform any of the methods, processes, and features described herein.

[0014] The processor 64 may be any suitable processing device or set of processing devices such as, a microprocessor, a microcontroller-based platform, a suitable integrated circuit, or one or more application-specific integrated circuits configured to execute the set of instructions 68. The main memory 66 may be any suitable memory device such as, but not limited to, volatile memory (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, etc.), unalterable memory (e.g., EPROMs), and read-only memory.

[0015] The system 62 includes the vision system 52, which is in communication with the controller 50. The system 62 also includes a communications interface 70 having a wired and/or wireless network interface to enable communication with an external network 86. The external network 86 may be a collection of one or more networks, including standard -based networks (3G, 4G, Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS), GSM (R) Association, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and others) available at the time of filing of this application or that may be developed in the future. Further, the external network may be a public network, such as the Internet, or private network such as an intranet, or a combination thereof.

[0016] In some embodiments, the set of instructions 68, stored on the memory 66 and that are executable to enable functionality of the system 62, may be downloaded from an off-site server via the external network 86. Further, in some embodiments, the driving system 62 may communicate with a central -command server via the external network 86. For example, the driving system 62 may communicate image information obtained by the vision system 52 to the central-command server by controlling the communications interface 70 to transmit the data to the central-command server via the network 86. The driving system 62 may also communicate any generated data maps to the central-command server.

[0017] The system 62 may communicate with a plurality of vehicle components and vehicle systems via one or more communication buses (CAN bus). For example, the controller 50 may communicate with input devices 72, output devices 74, a disk drive 76, a navigation system 82, and a vehicle control system 84. The input devices 72 may include any suitable input devices that enable a driver or passenger of the vehicle to input modification or updates to information referenced by the vision system 52. The input devices may include for example the control knob, an instrument panel, keyboard, scanner, a digital camera for image capture and/or visual command recognition, a touchscreen, audio input device, buttons, a mouse, or touchpad. The output devices 74 may include an instrument cluster, a display (e.g., display 46), and speakers (e.g., speakers 48).

[0018] The disk drive 76 is configured to receive a computer-readable medium 78. The disk drive 76 receives the computer-readable medium 78 on which one or more sets of instructions 80, such as the software for operating the system 62 can be embedded. Further, the instructions 80 may embody one or more of the methods or logic as described herein. The instructions 80 may reside completely, or at least partially, within any one or more of the main memory 66, the computer-readable medium 78 and/or within the processor 64 during execution of the instructions by the processor.

[0019] While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, the term

"computer-readable medium" includes a single medium or multimedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and associated catches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term "computer-readable medium" also includes any tangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by processor or the cause a computer to perform any one or more of the methods or operations described herein.

[0020] In typical autonomous driving, a user selects a final destination, and in response, the vehicle calculates a path from the current location to the final destination and drives the vehicle along the path via a series of commands such as accelerating, steering, and braking commands. While people mostly drive to and from particular destinations, occasionally, people drive around with no particular destination in mind. This is commonly referred to as going on a "Sunday drive". In order to provide this experience, the autonomous vehicle 20 is programmed with an "adventure mode" that simulates the Sunday drive. In adventure mode, the controller 50 generates a random wandering route (also known as a path) and controls the vehicle along the wandering route. Adventure mode could be used in conjunction with a remote final destination, e.g., a restaurant, or with the final destination being the starting location, i.e., the wandering route has a same beginning and end. If a remote destination is selected, adventure mode will take a random, elongated, and wandering route to that destination compared to standard navigation in which the most-efficient route is taken. A most-efficient route refers to the shortest route by distance or time. The controller 50 may query the user for information to tune the random route to the user's tastes. This will be described in more detail below.

[0021] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating an algorithm for operating an autonomous vehicle in adventure mode. The controls begin in response to a user requesting adventure mode. At operation 100, the controller receives map data that includes, but is not limited to, streets, addresses, business, attractions, and the like. The map data be pulled from a remote server operated by a map service provider via a network such as the internet. [0022] At operation 104 the controller receives user input to tailor the adventure-mode route for the upcoming trip. User inputs include: destination type and location, route preferences, crime-rate threshold, journey distance, trip duration, Cartesian direction, age data, and exclusions.

[0023] The destination location may be the origin, i.e., the route has the same beginning and end, or the user may request to end at a location other than the origin, e.g., a restaurant. If the end location is not the origin, the system may prompt the user for a destination type, which may be a restaurant, a park, an entertainment establishment, a local event, a monument, random, and the like. The user may request intermediate stops along the route such as at various destination types such as those listed above.

[0024] The route preferences may be the type of roads traveled on such as city roads, country roads, highways, and combinations thereof. The user may specify a desired pavement type such as paved or dirt. The user may also select to avoid toll roads and input regarding traffic congestion. The user may specify the types of areas to be explored during adventure mode. For example, the user could select nature to explore rural areas, enter city to explore downtown areas, or residential to explore those areas. The user need not provide input to all prompts during operation 104.

[0025] The system may be programmed to avoid high-crime areas based on user preference.

A user may input a crime-rate threshold to allow the system to better calculate a desired route. The threshold may be in the form of a rating system such as one through five, with one being the lowest crime tolerance and five being the highest crime tolerance.

[0026] The journey distance can include a roam radius, i.e., radial distance from the origin, and a total distance traveled. These distances may be maximum distances and the actual route may be less than those distances. The user may also set a trip duration, which is the maximum length of time for the trip. The user may also specify a Cartesian direction from the origin for the trip. For example, the user could request to go north from the origin depending upon which areas the user would like to randomly explore.

[0027] At operation 106, the controller receives weather data from a remote server and at operation 108 the controller receives traffic data. In some embodiments, the traffic data may be packaged with in the map data, in which case, operation 108 may be omitted. At operation 110, the controller receives crime-rate data from a remote server for areas within a threshold distance of the roam radius.

[0028] After the user is finished inputting information and the controller has received data pertaining to the trip, control passes to operation 112 and the controller generates a wandering route for the upcoming adventure-mode trip. The route includes the origin, the end destination (which may be the origin), and the roads to be traveled on to navigate between the origin and the end destination. The route is composed of a series of interconnected segments. The refinement of the segments may vary by embodiment. For example, the segments may be defined between vehicle action points. An action point may be the origin, turns, intermediate stops, and the final destination. For example, the portion of the route between the origin and the first turn is the first segment, etc. In other embodiments, the segments may be defined between adjacent intersections.

[0029] Randomness may be interjected into the route using Bernoulli Gates. Bernoulli Gates may be used at intersections to generate a random, wandering route. For example, the controller may begin calculating the route by charting the most-efficient route from the origin to a location similar to standard navigation. Once a baseline route has been established, the controller may utilize Bernoulli Gates at intersections in order to generate random segments between the origin and the location. The rate at which intersections are selected for Bernoulli Gate logic may be based on the difference between desired trip distance/time and current trip distance/time. Also, rather than having each of these Bernoulli Gates be completely random, weighting can be used in order to increase the distance/time, avoid high-crime areas, and accomplish all of the other preferences that were input by the user at operation 104.

[0030] Each of the segments may be assigned attribute data used by the controller for characterizing the segment to create a route tuned to the user's preferences. The attribute data may include average speed limit, crime-rate index, city-highway index, Cartesian orientation, road-surface type. The crime-rate index may be based on the received crime-rate data and represented by a number scale such as zero through five with five being the highest crime rate. The city-highway index may also be represented on a number scale such as zero through five with zero being a very rural road and five being a very urban road. The Cartesian orientation is the general direction of the road such as north-south. The road surface may be characterized as paved or dirt. [0031] The controller is programmed to generate the wandering route by choosing segments that align with the user-inputted data as well as default system preferences based on the attribute data associated with each of the segments. Rather than having the user input large amounts of preference, the controller is programmed to make assumptions based on a small sample of information from the user. For example, based on received age data, i.e. , the age of the user, the system may make assumptions related to route distance, route time, roam radius, locations to visit, desired speed limit, crime-rate threshold, city-highway distribution, and others. In one embodiment, the programming may assume that younger users have a higher crime-rate threshold, prefer city to highway driving, and prefer roads of higher speed limit. This is just a nonlimiting example and the controller may be programmed with different assumptions.

[0032] The controller may also be programmed to remember previous routes and avoid generating a same or similar route for a period of time. For example, if a user previously requested the controller to randomly choose a restaurant, the controller may be programmed to not choose that restaurant in future adventure modes for a period of time, such as six months.

[0033] Once the route is generated, control passes to operation 1 14 and the vehicle is autonomously driven along the route. The controller is programmed with the driving constraints of the vehicle, such as turning radius, vehicle dimensions, ground clearance, and the like. Using the vehicle constraints, the current environmental conditions sensed by the vision system, and the route, the controller generates steering, braking, and/or propulsion commands for operating the vehicle to drive along the route.

[0034] In one embodiment, the vehicle motion is controlled using position and orientation state estimates (POSE). For example, a path-following controller can calculate the steering, powertrain, and brake-system inputs to make the vehicle follow the desired path. One such algorithm uses the heading error and lateral offset to calculate a desired vehicle-path curvature. For example, the path may be calculated using equation 1 below.

U_K = K_r + k_v5_v + Ιϊψδψ (1) where U_K = Commanded vehicle path curvature, K_r = Desired path curvature, k_v = Lateral path offset gain, δ_η = Lateral Path Offset, k^ = Heading error gain, and δψ = Heading error. [0035] Using the equation above, a commanded vehicle path curvature is calculated. The steering wheel position that corresponds to the commanded path curvature is sent to the vehicle steering system such as an Electrical Power Assist Steering (EPAS). The EPAS steering system uses an electric motor and positon control system to produce the desired steering wheel angle. Using these equations, the vehicle may be autonomously driven along the path.

[0036] For propulsion control, the vehicle position error along the path (5s) is used to calculate a commanded velocity (U_v). Following a similar technique as above, equation 2 may be used to calculate U_v.

U_v = V_r + k_sS_s (2) where V_r = Desired path velocity, k_s = Longitudinal path error gain , and 6_S =

Longitudinal path error.

[0037] The commanded change in velocity is used to calculate commanded vehicle acceleration. The commanded vehicle acceleration is scaled by vehicle mass to calculate wheel torque. The wheel torque is produced by the vehicle powertrain and/or brake system. This applies to both conventional (gas), hybrid (gas electric) and electric vehicles.

[0038] Adventure mode includes an abort option that allows the user to end adventure mode at their pleasure or in the event of an emergency. The display may include an icon that once pressed by the user ends adventure mode. If a user requests to abort at operation 1 16, control passes operation 120 and the controller executes an exit strategy. In one embodiment, in response to a request to abort adventure mode, the wandering route is ended and the controller plots a second route back to the origin. The second route may be the most efficient route between the vehicle' s current location and the origin. The most efficient route may be the shortest distance or the shortest time. The controller then executes the second route by generating steering, powertrain, and braking commands in order to autonomously drive the vehicle along the second route.

[0039] While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes can include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particular applications.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

a steering and powertrain arrangement; and

a controller programmed to, responsive to a request for adventure mode and occupant-age data being received, operate the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments selected by the controller based on the occupant-age data.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein a distance of the wandering route is based on the occupant-age data.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the distance increases as a value of the occupant-age data increases.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein each of the segments has attribute data that includes an average speed limit of the segment, and wherein the segments are selected by the controller such that the average speed limit of the segments changes based on the occupant-age data.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the segments are further selected by the controller based on crime-rate data.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to a request to abort adventure mode, end the wandering route, and operate the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a second route to the beginning location.

7. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

a powertrain;

a steering system; and

a controller programmed to

receive crime-rate data from a remote server, and in response to a request for adventure mode, operate the powertrain and the steering system to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments selected by the controller based on the crime-rate data.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein each of the segments has an associated crime- rate index based on the crime-rate data, and the route is generated such that the crime-rate index of each segment is below a threshold.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is further programmed to poll a user for a crime-rate tolerance, and the threshold is based on the crime-rate tolerance.

10. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is further programmed to poll a user for age data, and the threshold is based on the age data.

11. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the segments are further selected by the controller based on a city -highway index associated with the segments.

12. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the segments are further selected by the controller based on a user-input roam radius.

13. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the segments are selected by the controller using Bernoulli Gates.

14. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to a request to abort adventure mode, end the wandering route, and operate the steering system and the powertrain to drive the vehicle along a most efficient route to the beginning location.

15. A method of operating an autonomous vehicle having a steering and powertrain arrangement, comprising:

responsive to a request for adventure mode, operating the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a wandering route having a same beginning and end location and including segments selected by a vehicle controller such that a city-highway index of the segments changes based on user-input data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the user-inputted data includes city-highway preference.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the segments are further selected by the vehicle controller such that the segments are based on user-input age data.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the segments are further selected by the vehicle controller such that the segments are based on user-input crime-rate data.

19. The method of claim 15 further comprising ending the wandering route and operating the steering and powertrain arrangement to drive the vehicle along a second route to the beginning location in response to a user request to abort adventure mode.