US Patent:
20200180653, Jun 11, 2020
Inventors:
- Mountain View CA, US
Ryan Joseph Andrade - Morgan Hill CA, US
Andreas Wendel - Mountain View CA, US
Michael James - Northville MI, US
Christian Lauterbach - Campbell CA, US
Etai Bruhis - Palo Alto CA, US
Christopher Kennedy Ludwick - Los Altos CA, US
Alexander Zbrozek - Sunnyvale CA, US
Pieter Kapsenberg - Santa Clara CA, US
Zhuyuan Liu - Los Altos CA, US
Daniel Rosenband - San Jose CA, US
International Classification:
B60W 50/029
G05D 1/00
B60W 10/04
B60W 10/20
B60W 50/02
Abstract:
The technology relates to partially redundant equipment architectures for vehicles able to operate in an autonomous driving mode. Aspects of the technology employ fallback configurations, such as two or more fallback sensor configurations that provide some minimum amount of field of view (FOV) around the vehicle. For instance, different sensor arrangements are logically associated with different operating domains of the vehicle. Fallback configurations for computing resources and/or power resources are also provided. Each fallback configuration may have different reasons for being triggered, and may result in different types of fallback modes of operation. Triggering conditions may relate, e.g., to a type of failure, fault or other reduction in component capability, the current driving mode, environmental conditions in the vicinity of vehicle or along a planned route, or other factors. Fallback modes may involve altering a previously planned trajectory, altering vehicle speed, and/or altering a destination of the vehicle.