Devices and methods for an electromagnetic coil

    公开(公告)号:US10790077B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-09-29

    申请号:US15799432

    申请日:2017-10-31

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Inventor: Harry Johnson

    Abstract: Example implementations herein relate to electromagnetic coils. One example device includes a plurality of coil windings. Each coil winding may extend around a shared core region inside the plurality of coil windings between a respective first end and a respective second end. The respective first end is electrically connected to a respective first-end electrical contact. The respective second end is electrically connected to a respective second-end electrical contact. The device also includes a plurality of mountable components. Each mountable component electrically couples a respective first coil winding to a respective second coil winding via the respective first-end electrical contact of the respective first coil winding and the respective second-end electrical contact of the second coil winding.

    Testing predictions for autonomous vehicles

    公开(公告)号:US10766486B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-09-08

    申请号:US16134368

    申请日:2018-11-30

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to testing predictions of an autonomous vehicle relating to another vehicle or object in a roadway. For instance, one or more processors may plan to maneuver the autonomous vehicle to complete an action and predict that the other vehicle will take a responsive action. The autonomous vehicle is then maneuvered towards completing the action in a way that would allow the autonomous vehicle to cancel completing the action without causing a collision between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, and in order to indicate to the second vehicle or a driver of the second vehicle that the first vehicle is attempting to complete the action. Thereafter, when the first vehicle is determined to be able to take the action, the action is completed by controlling the first vehicle autonomously using the determination of whether the second vehicle begins to take the particular responsive action.

    Shear pin failure system
    463.
    发明授权

    公开(公告)号:US10759379B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-09-01

    申请号:US16131788

    申请日:2018-09-14

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to adjusting a shear pin to minimize an impact force felt by an object in a collision with a vehicle. For example, one or more second computing devices may receive, from one or more first computing devices, information indicating that an impact with an object is imminent. In response to the received information, the second computing devices may determine a first shear force for a first shear pin, wherein the first shear force is a desired amount of shear force necessary to break the first shear pin. The second computing devices may send a triggering signal to activate an actuator prior to an impact with the identified impact target. The actuator, in response to receiving the triggering signal, may adjust the first shear pin in a first pinhole, so the first shear pin will break at the first shear force.

    USING PREDICTION MODELS FOR SCENE DIFFICULTY IN VEHICLE ROUTING

    公开(公告)号:US20200264003A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-08-20

    申请号:US16869682

    申请日:2020-05-08

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: A route is selected for travel by an autonomous vehicle based on at least a level of difficulty of traversing the driving environment along that route. Vehicle signals, provided by one or more autonomous vehicles, indicating a difficulty associated with traveling a portion of a route are collected and used to predict a most favorable driving route for a given time. The signals may indicate a probability of disengaging from autonomous driving mode, a probability of being stuck for an unduly long time, traffic density, etc. A difficulty score may be computed for each road segment of a route, and then the scores of all of the road segments of the route are added together. The scores are based on number of previous disengagements, previous requests for remote assistance, unprotected left or right turns, whether parts of the driving area are occluded, etc. The difficulty score is used to compute a cost for a particular route, which may be compared to costs computed for other possible routes. Based on such information, a route may be selected.

    Trajectory representation in behavior prediction systems

    公开(公告)号:US10739777B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-08-11

    申请号:US16196769

    申请日:2018-11-20

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for generating a representation of a trajectory of a target agent in an environment. In one aspect, the representation of the trajectory of the target agent in the environment is a concatenation of a plurality of channels, where each channel is represented as a two-dimensional array of data values. Each position in each channel corresponds to a respective spatial position in the environment, and corresponding positions in different channels correspond to the same spatial position in the environment. The channels include a time channel and a respective motion channel corresponding to each motion parameter in a predetermined set of motion parameters.

    Vison-Based Object Detection Using a Polar Grid

    公开(公告)号:US20200233430A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-07-23

    申请号:US16837017

    申请日:2020-04-01

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: A computing device of a first vehicle may receive a first image and a second image of a second vehicle having flashing light signals. The computing device may determine, in the first image and the second image, an image region that bounds the second vehicle such that the image region substantially encompasses the second vehicle. The computing device may determine a polar grid that partitions the image region in the first image and the second image into polar bins, and identify portions of image data exhibiting a change in color and a change in brightness between the first image and the second image. The computing device may determine a type of the flashing light signals and a type of the second vehicle; and accordingly provide instructions to control the first vehicle.

    Variable Beam Spacing, Timing, and Power for Vehicle Sensors

    公开(公告)号:US20200217934A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-07-09

    申请号:US16827214

    申请日:2020-03-23

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to systems and methods that facilitate light detection and ranging operations. An example transmit block includes at least one substrate with a plurality of angled facets. The plurality of angled facets provides a corresponding plurality of elevation angles. A set of angle differences between adjacent elevation angles includes at least two different angle difference values. A plurality of light-emitter devices is configured to emit light into an environment along the plurality of elevation angles toward respective target locations so as to provide a desired resolution and/or a respective elevation angle. The present disclosure also relates to adjusting shot power and a shot schedule based on the desired resolution and/or a respective elevation angle.

    Vacuum fixture
    468.
    发明授权

    公开(公告)号:US10707652B1

    公开(公告)日:2020-07-07

    申请号:US16204406

    申请日:2018-11-29

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: An example method includes stacking a plurality of laser diode bars proximate an alignment plate. Each respective laser diode bar has a front edge through which the respective laser diode bar emits light. The alignment plate has a first side that provides a common plane for aligning the front edges of the laser diode bars and a second side opposite the first side. The alignment plate has a plurality of microholes extending between the first and second sides. The method also includes applying suction to the plurality of laser diode bars through the plurality of microholes. The suction draws the front edges of the laser diode bars against the first side of the alignment plate such that the front edges of the laser diode bars are aligned in the common plane. Conductive plates used to clamp the plurality of laser diodes therebetween may be aligned in a similar fashion.

    Perception visualization tool
    469.
    发明授权

    公开(公告)号:US10699167B1

    公开(公告)日:2020-06-30

    申请号:US16165468

    申请日:2018-10-19

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to generating a grid or a visual list to facilitate operator review of labels. The system receives a first set of labels generated by a first labeling source and a second set of labels generated by a second labeling source. The first set of labels and the second set of labels each classify one or more objects perceived in one or more scenes captured by a sensor of a vehicle, such that each of the one or more objects has a corresponding first label and a corresponding second label. The system determines discrepancies between the corresponding first label and the corresponding second label for each of the one or more objects, and generates a grid or a visual list using the determined discrepancies. The system provides the grid or the visual list for display to a human operator.

    Phrase recognition model for autonomous vehicles

    公开(公告)号:US10699141B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-06-30

    申请号:US16018490

    申请日:2018-06-26

    Applicant: Waymo LLC

    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to training and using a phrase recognition model to identify phrases in images. As an example, a selected phrase list may include a plurality of phrases is received. Each phrase of the plurality of phrases includes text. An initial plurality of images may be received. A training image set may be selected from the initial plurality of images by identifying the phrase-containing images that include one or more phrases from the selected phrase list. Each given phrase-containing image of the training image set may be labeled with information identifying the one or more phrases from the selected phrase list included in the given phrase-containing images. The model may be trained based on the training image set such that the model is configured to, in response to receiving an input image, output data indicating whether a phrase of the plurality of phrases is included in the input image.

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