公开(公告)号：US20180156659A1

公开(公告)日：2018-06-07

申请号：US15368579

申请日：2016-12-03

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Pierre-Yves DROZ ,  David HUTCHISON

IPC: G01J1/04 ,  G02B6/08 ,  G01S7/481

CPC classification number: G01J1/0425 ,  G01J1/0411 ,  G01J1/0414 ,  G01J1/0437 ,  G01J2001/4466 ,  G01S7/4816 ,  G01S7/4818 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G02B6/08

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to limitation of noise on light detectors using an aperture. One example implementation includes a system. The system includes a lens disposed relative to a scene. The lens focuses light from the scene. The system also includes an aperture defined within an opaque material. The system also includes a waveguide having a first side that receives light focused by the lens and transmitted through the aperture. The waveguide guides the received light toward a second side of the waveguide opposite to the first side. The waveguide has a third side extending between the first side and the second side. The system also includes an array of light detectors that intercepts and detects light propagating out of the third side of the waveguide.

公开(公告)号：US09964954B1

公开(公告)日：2018-05-08

申请号：US15384841

申请日：2016-12-20

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： David Harrison Silver ,  Jur Pieter Van Den Berg ,  Nathaniel Fairfield

IPC: G01C22/00 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G08G1/16

CPC classification number: G05D1/0231 ,  G05D1/0088 ,  G05D1/0234 ,  G06K9/00812 ,  G08G1/015 ,  G08G1/052 ,  G08G1/09626 ,  G08G1/096725 ,  G08G1/096758 ,  G08G1/096783 ,  G08G1/165

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to an autonomous vehicle that may detected other nearby vehicles and identify them as parked or unparked. This identification may be based on visual indicia displayed by the detected vehicles as well as traffic control factors relating to the detected vehicles. Detected vehicles that are in a known parking spot may automatically be identified as parked. In addition, detected vehicles that satisfy conditions that are indications of being parked may also be identified as parked. The autonomous vehicle may then base its control strategy on whether or not a vehicle has been identified as parked or not.

公开(公告)号：US20180118041A1

公开(公告)日：2018-05-03

申请号：US15851907

申请日：2017-12-22

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Samuel William Lenius ,  Pierre-yves Droz

IPC: B60L11/18 ,  B60L3/00 ,  B60L7/12 ,  B60L8/00 ,  B60L11/00 ,  G01S17/93 ,  B60L11/16 ,  H02J7/02 ,  G01S7/481 ,  B60L11/14 ,  G01S7/00 ,  G01S17/42

CPC classification number: H02J50/80 ,  B60L3/0015 ,  B60L7/12 ,  B60L8/003 ,  B60L50/16 ,  B60L50/30 ,  B60L50/40 ,  B60L53/12 ,  B60L2240/12 ,  B60L2240/16 ,  B60L2240/18 ,  B60L2240/20 ,  B60L2240/421 ,  B60L2240/441 ,  B60L2240/461 ,  B60L2240/622 ,  G01S7/003 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/936 ,  H02J7/025 ,  H02J17/00 ,  H02J50/10 ,  Y02T10/642 ,  Y02T10/70 ,  Y02T10/7022 ,  Y02T10/7077 ,  Y02T10/7083 ,  Y02T10/7291 ,  Y02T90/16 ,  Y02T90/162

Abstract: A rotatable LIDAR device including contactless electrical couplings is disclosed. An example rotatable LIDAR device includes a vehicle electrical coupling including (i) a first conductive ring, (ii) a second conductive ring, and (iii) a first coil. The example rotatable LIDAR device further includes a LIDAR electrical coupling including (i) a third conductive ring, (ii) a fourth conductive ring, and (iii) a second coil. The example rotatable LIDAR device still further includes a rotatable LIDAR electrically coupled to the LIDAR electrical coupling. The first conductive ring and the third conductive ring form a first capacitor configured to transmit communications to the rotatable LIDAR, the second conductive ring and the fourth conductive ring form a second capacitor configured to transmit communications from the rotatable LIDAR, and the first coil and the second coil form a transformer configured to provide power to the rotatable LIDAR.

公开(公告)号：US09950708B1

公开(公告)日：2018-04-24

申请号：US14788901

申请日：2015-07-01

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Brian Cullinane ,  Nicholas Kenneth Hobbs

IPC: B60W10/00 ,  B60W30/095 ,  B60R21/00

CPC classification number: B60W30/095

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for customizing driving operations of a vehicle based on occupant(s) of the vehicle. An autonomous vehicle that includes a passenger compartment can determine a presence of an occupant of the passenger compartment. The autonomous vehicle can determine a location of the occupant within the passenger compartment. Additional information about the occupant can be determined. A driving operation can be selected from among a plurality of driving operations based on the location and additional information about the occupant. The selected driving operation can be performed, perhaps by the autonomous vehicle.

公开(公告)号：US20180102001A1

公开(公告)日：2018-04-12

申请号：US15288463

申请日：2016-10-07

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Aleksandra Faust ,  Nathaniel Fairfield

IPC: G07C5/08 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G06N7/00

CPC classification number: G07C5/0816 ,  B60K28/14 ,  B60R21/0132 ,  B60R2021/01252 ,  B60W2030/082 ,  B60W2520/105 ,  B60W2550/10 ,  B60W2550/402 ,  B60Y2302/05 ,  G05D1/0088 ,  G06N7/005

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to detecting vehicle collisions. In one example, one or more computing devices may receive acceleration data of a vehicle and the expected acceleration data of the vehicle over a period of time. The one or more computing devices may determine a change in the vehicle's acceleration over the period of time, where the change in the vehicle's acceleration over the period of time is the difference between the expected acceleration data and the acceleration data. The one or more computing devices may detect an occurrence when the change in the vehicle's acceleration is greater than a threshold value and assign the occurrence into a collision category. Based on the assigned collision category, the one or more computing devices may perform a responsive action.

公开(公告)号：USD813245S1

公开(公告)日：2018-03-20

申请号：US29566867

申请日：2016-06-03

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Designer： Robertus Christianus Elisabeth Mariet ,  Manuel Christian Clement

公开(公告)号：US09911030B1

公开(公告)日：2018-03-06

申请号：US15587680

申请日：2017-05-05

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Jiajun Zhu ,  Christopher Paul Urmson ,  Dirk Haehnel ,  Nathaniel Fairfield ,  Russell Leigh Smith

IPC: G06K9/00 ,  G06T7/223 ,  G06T7/231 ,  G06T7/20 ,  B60R1/00

CPC classification number: G06K9/00201 ,  B60R1/00 ,  B60R2300/30 ,  B60W30/08 ,  B60W30/186 ,  B60W2050/0292 ,  B60W2530/14 ,  B60W2550/22 ,  B62D6/00 ,  G01C21/3617 ,  G05D1/0055 ,  G05D1/0088 ,  G05D1/021 ,  G05D1/0214 ,  G05D1/024 ,  G05D1/0246 ,  G05D1/0257 ,  G05D1/0274 ,  G05D1/0276 ,  G05D1/0278 ,  G05D2201/0213 ,  G06K9/00791 ,  G06K9/00798 ,  G06K9/00805 ,  G06K9/3241 ,  G06T7/0044 ,  G06T7/0057 ,  G06T7/20 ,  G06T7/223 ,  G06T7/231 ,  G06T2207/10004 ,  G06T2207/10028 ,  G06T2207/30236 ,  G06T2207/30252 ,  G06T2207/30261

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for optimizing one or more object detection parameters used by an autonomous vehicle to detect objects in images. The autonomous vehicle may capture the images using one or more sensors. The autonomous vehicle may then determine object labels and their corresponding object label parameters for the detected objects. The captured images and the object label parameters may be communicated to an object identification server. The object identification server may request that one or more reviewers identify objects in the captured images. The object identification server may then compare the identification of objects by reviewers with the identification of objects by the autonomous vehicle. Depending on the results of the comparison, the object identification server may recommend or perform the optimization of one or more of the object detection parameters.

公开(公告)号：US09909887B1

公开(公告)日：2018-03-06

申请号：US15188138

申请日：2016-06-21

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Christopher Paul Urmson ,  Michael Steven Montemerlo ,  Andrew Hughes Chatham ,  Daniel Trawick Egnor

IPC: G05D1/02 ,  B60L15/38 ,  G01C21/34 ,  G01C21/28 ,  G05D1/00

CPC classification number: G01C21/3407 ,  B60W30/12 ,  B60W30/18154 ,  B60W2550/141 ,  B60W2550/402 ,  G01C21/28 ,  G01C21/34 ,  G05D1/0088 ,  G05D1/0246 ,  G05D1/0255 ,  G05D1/0257 ,  G05D1/0274 ,  G05D1/0278

Abstract: An autonomous vehicle may access portions of a map to maneuver a roadway. The map may be split into one or more levels that represent different regions in space. For example, an overpass may be represented by one level while the road below the overpass may be on a separate level. A vehicle traveling on a particular level may use map data that is associated with that level. Furthermore, if the vehicle travels through a warp zone, it may transition from the current level to a destination level and thus begin to use map data associated with the destination level.

公开(公告)号：US09892327B2

公开(公告)日：2018-02-13

申请号：US15331079

申请日：2016-10-21

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Abhijit Ogale ,  Dave Ferguson

IPC: G06K9/00 ,  B60R1/00 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G06K9/46 ,  H04N5/235

CPC classification number: G06K9/00791 ,  B60R1/00 ,  B60R2300/80 ,  G05D1/0088 ,  G05D1/0246 ,  G06K9/00825 ,  G06K9/4604 ,  G06K9/4652 ,  G06K9/4661 ,  H04N5/2353

Abstract: An autonomous vehicle is configured to detect an active turn signal indicator on another vehicle. An image-capture device of the autonomous vehicle captures an image of a field of view of the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle captures the image with a short exposure to emphasize objects having brightness above a threshold. Additionally, a bounding area for a second vehicle located within the image is determined. The autonomous vehicle identifies a group of pixels within the bounding area based on a first color of the group of pixels. The autonomous vehicle also calculates an oscillation of an intensity of the group of pixels. Based on the oscillation of the intensity, the autonomous vehicle determines a likelihood that the second vehicle has a first active turn signal. Additionally, the autonomous vehicle is controlled based at least on the likelihood that the second vehicle has a first active turn signal.

公开(公告)号：US20180032084A1

公开(公告)日：2018-02-01

申请号：US15718794

申请日：2017-09-28

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Dmitri A. Dolgov ,  Christopher Paul Urmson

IPC: G05D1/02 ,  B60W50/00 ,  B60W30/18

Abstract: Models can be generated of a vehicle's view of its environment and used to maneuver the vehicle. This view need not include what objects or features the vehicle is actually seeing, but rather those areas that the vehicle is able to observe using its sensors if the sensors were completely un-occluded. For example, for each of a plurality of sensors of the object detection component, a computer may generate an individual 3D model of that sensor's field of view. Weather information is received and used to adjust one or more of the models. After this adjusting, the models may be aggregated into a comprehensive 3D model. The comprehensive model may be combined with detailed map information indicating the probability of detecting objects at different locations. The model of the vehicle's environment may be computed based on the combined comprehensive 3D model and detailed map information.