EP-4735317-A1 - TRAJECTORY SELECTION IN RESPONSE TO TRIGGERING EVENTS

Abstract

Techniques for optimal trajectory generation for a vehicle are described herein. In some cases, the techniques described herein include determining a first primary trajectory by a first component (e.g., a planner component) of the vehicle, determining a triggering event associated with the first primary trajectory by a second component (e.g., a trajectory validation component) of the vehicle, controlling the vehicle based on an alternative trajectory (e.g., a trajectory configured to cause the vehicle to stop and/or slow down) in response to the triggering event, determining a second primary trajectory by the first component and based at least in part on a state of the vehicle along the alternative trajectory, and one or more of: (i) controlling the vehicle based on the alternative trajectory if the triggering event is still present, or (ii) controlling the vehicle based on the second primary trajectory if the triggering event is no longer present.

Inventors

• LAURENSE, VINCENT ANDREAS
• AGRAWAL, VARUN
• FUNKE, Joseph
• LIEM, GLENN XAVIER
• XIA, Jiayin

Assignees

• Zoox, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20240627

Claims (15)

1. 1. A system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computerexecutable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: transmitting, from a first component, a first traj ectory for a vehicle to follow; determining, by a second component, a triggering event; determining, based on determining the triggering event, to control the vehicle based at least in part on an alternative trajectory; controlling the vehicle in accordance with the alternative trajectory; determining, by the first component and based at least in part on one or more of a state of the vehicle along the alternative trajectory' or a state of the vehicle along the first trajectory', a second trajectory' for the vehicle to follow; transmitting the second trajectory' to the second component; and one of continuing to control the vehicle based on the alternative trajectory based at least in part on the triggering event being still present or controlling the vehicle in accordance with the second trajectory based at least in part on an absence of the triggering event.
2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the triggering event comprises: determining a likelihood that the vehicle is unable to proceed safely; and determining that the likelihood is above a first threshold.
3. 3. The system of any of the preceding claims, the operations further comprising: determining a likelihood that the vehicle is unable to proceed safely; and one of determining the triggering event based at least in part on the likelihood being above a first threshold or determining the absence of the triggering event based at least in part on the likelihood being less than or equal to a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is lower than the first threshold.
4. 4. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein: the triggering event represents a detected failure of a subsystem associated with the vehicle, and the absence of the triggering event represents that the subsystem is operating nominally.
5. 5. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein controlling the vehicle in accordance with the second trajectory is based at least in part on determining that a threshold amount of time has passed since the vehicle was first controlled by the alternative trajectory.
6. 6. The system of any of the preceding claims, the operations further comprising: determining, by the first component, that no indications related to the second trajectory' have been received from the second component; determining, by the first component, a third trajectory based at least in part on a second state of the vehicle along the second trajectory; and transmitting, from the first component to the second component, the third trajectory.
7. 7. The system of any of the preceding claims, the operations further comprising: transmitting, from the second component to the first component, a second indication that the vehicle is following the alternative trajectory'; determining, by the first component, a third trajectory based at least in part on a second state of the vehicle along the alternative trajectory; and transmitting, from the first component to the second component, the third trajectory.
8. 8. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the alternative trajectory is configured to cause the vehicle to one or more of slow down or stop.
9. 9. A method comprising: transmitting, from a first component, a first traj cctory for a vehicle to follow; determining, by a second component, a triggering event: determining, based on determining the triggering event, to control the vehicle based at least in part on an alternative trajectory; controlling the vehicle in accordance with the alternative trajectory; determining, by the first component and based at least in part on a state of the vehicle along the alternative trajectory, a second trajectory for the vehicle to follow; transmitting the second trajectory to the second component; and one of continuing to control the vehicle based on the alternative trajectory based at least in part on the triggering event being still present or controlling the vehicle in accordance with the second trajectory based at least in part on an absence of the triggering event.
10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the triggering event comprises: determining a likelihood that the vehicle is unable to proceed safely; and determining that the likelihood is above a first threshold.
11. 11. The method of any of claims 9-10, further comprising: determining a likelihood that the vehicle is unable to proceed safely; and one of determining the triggering event based at least in part on the likelihood being above a first threshold or determining the absence of the triggering event based at least in part on the likelihood being less than or equal to a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is lower than the first threshold.
12. 12. The method of any of claims 9-11, wherein: the triggering event represents a detected failure of a subsystem associated with the vehicle, and the absence of the triggering event represents that the subsystem is operating nominally.
13. 13. The method of any of claims 9-12, wherein controlling the vehicle in accordance with the second trajectory' is based at least in part on determining that a threshold amount of time has passed since the vehicle was first controlled by the alternative trajectory.
14. 14. The method of any of claims 9-13, further comprising: detennining, by the first component, that no indications related to the second trajectory have been received from the second component; determining, by the first component, a third trajectory based at least in part on a second state of the vehicle along the second trajectory; and transmitting, from the first component to the second component, the third trajectory.
15. 15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform the method as recited in any one of the claims 9-14.

Description

TRAJECTORY SELECTION IN RESPONSE TO TRIGGERING EVENTS CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is an international application claiming the benefit of priority from U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 18/345,963, titled “TRAJECTORY SELECTION IN RESPONSE TO TRIGGERING EVENTS,’' filed June 30, 2023, and incorporates the entirety thereof. BACKGROUND [0002] Safety of passengers in a vehicle and other people or obj ects in proximity to the vehicle is of the upmost importance. Such safety is often predicated on an accurate detection of a potential triggering event and timely deployment of a safety measure. However, on occasion, such events may resolve during deployment of the safety measure. As such, the system may not operate as effectively as desired, which may result in unsafe or undesired behavior. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0003] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical components or features. [0004] FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which the techniques described herein may be implemented. [0005] FIG. 2 is a flowchart diagram of an example process that may be performed by a planning component. [0006] FIG. 3 provides an operational example determining the presence of a triggering event followed by determining the absence of the detected triggering event. [0007] FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram of an example process for determining and transmitting a recovery trajectory'. [0008] FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram of an example process for controlling a vehicle. [0009] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example system for implementing the techniques described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0010] Techniques for optimal trajectory generation for a vehicle are described herein. In some cases, the techniques described herein include determining a first primary' trajectory by a first component (e.g., a planner component) of the vehicle, determining a triggering event associated with the first primary trajectory’ by a second component (e.g., a trajectory validation component, component validation, etc.) of the vehicle, controlling the vehicle based on an alternative trajectory' (e.g., a trajectory configured to cause the vehicle to stop and/or slow down) in response to the triggering event, transmitting an indication of the triggering event to the first component, determining a second primary trajectory' by the first component and based at least in part on a state of the vehicle along the alternative trajectory, and one or more of: (i) controlling the vehicle based on the alternative trajectory' if the triggering event is still present, or (ii) controlling the vehicle based on the second primary trajectory if the triggering event is no longer present. [0011] Accordingly, in some cases, the techniques described herein select a controlling trajectory' for a vehicle based on presence or absence of a triggering event associated with the vehicle. In some cases, while the triggering event is present, the vehicle is controlled based on an alternative trajectory that is configured to cause the vehicle to stop, slow down, and/or limit other behaviors. However, in the absence of the triggering event (e.g., after the trajectory validation component “releases” the triggering event), the vehicle is controlled based on a primary' trajectory'. A primary’ trajectory may be a trajectory that is determined by the first component (e.g., a planner component) of the vehicle and provided to the second component (e.g., a trajectory validation component) of the vehicle. In some cases, when the first component determines a primary traj ectory in the absence of a triggering event, the determined primary' trajectory' is referred to as a nominal trajectory. A nominal trajectory may be determined based on a detennined state of the vehicle along a previous primary trajectory used to control the vehicle. In some cases, when the first component determines a primary trajectory' while a triggering event is present, the determined primary' trajectory’ is referred to as a recovery’ trajectory. A recovery' trajectory’ may be determined based on a determined state of the vehicle along the alternative trajectory used to control the vehicle. [0012] In some cases, these techniques described herein can be employed to improve the safety of a vehicle. The techniques may accomplish this objective by making sure that, once the second component detects that a safety issue is present, the vehicle is controlled in accordance with an alternative trajectory at least until the second component detects absence of the safety issue. In some cases, the second component detects the presence of the safety issue based on determining that a first condition is satisfied and the absence of the