US-20260127960-A1 - AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM WITH DATA FUSION

Abstract

This technology provides an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Control System that includes a sensing module for gathering driving environment data and an onboard unit (OBU) for vehicle control. The OBU fuses data from the vehicle and data from a Traffic Control Center/Traffic Control Unit (TCC/TCU), a Roadside Unit (RSU), or another vehicle. The OBU comprises a vehicle control module and communication modules for information exchange with TCC/TCU, RSU, or another vehicle. The AV control system receives targeted guidance instructions and information, such as vehicle maneuvering, safety maintenance, traffic control, and special conditions, to enhance driving tasks. The AV control system collaborates with TCC/TCU, RSU, or another AV, which provides redundancy and a fail-safe mechanism for increased safety and reliability. The system is designed with wireless communication capabilities for efficient information exchange and is applicable to autonomous vehicles (AVs).

Inventors

• Bin Ran
• Yang Cheng
• SHEN LI
• Jing Jin
• Xiaoxuan Chen
• Fan Ding
• Zhen Zhang

Assignees

• CAVH LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20260102

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An autonomous vehicle (AV) control system comprising: a sensing module provided in a vehicle, said sensing module collecting driving environment information; and an onboard unit (OBU) provided in the vehicle, said OBU comprising: 1) a vehicle control module controlling the vehicle; and 2) a traffic control center/traffic control unit (TCC/TCU) communication module communicating with a TCC/TCU and receiving vehicle-specific traffic operations instructions from the TCC/TCU, wherein the sensing module fuses data from a plurality of sensors of the vehicle and the vehicle-specific traffic operations instructions provided by the TCC/TCU, and uses a backup plan if a sensor of the plurality of sensors has a functional problem; wherein the vehicle control module controls the vehicle using the driving environment information collected by said sensing module and the vehicle-specific traffic operations instructions provided by the TCC/TCU.
2. 2 . The AV control system of claim 1 , wherein said driving environment information comprises a vehicle speed, a vehicle headway, a vehicle acceleration/deceleration rate, a distance between a carriageway marking and a vehicle, an angle of a vehicle with respect to a central line, and/or a general traffic status.
3. 3 . The AV control system of claim 1 , wherein said sensing module receives sensor information from one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of a vision sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, a differential global positioning system (DGPS) sensor, an infrared sensor, and a laser sensor.
4. 4 . The AV control system of claim 1 , wherein said driving environment information comprises weather information, pavement conditions, and/or estimated travel time.
5. 5 . The AV control system of claim 1 , wherein said vehicle control module controls a vehicle according to vehicle control instructions comprising instructions for speed, spacing, lane designation, vehicle following, lane changing, and/or route.
6. 6 . The AV control system of claim 1 , wherein said TCC/TCU provide: vehicle-specific control instructions; and/or vehicle-specific information comprising a desirable speed, a desirable spacing of vehicles, a desirable traffic volume, a desirable traffic split at access points, and/or traffic signal timing parameters.
7. 7 . The AV control system of claim 1 further comprising a V2V communication module configured to communicate with a second AV control system.
8. 8 . An autonomous vehicle (AV) control system comprising: a sensing module provided in a vehicle, said sensing module collecting driving environment information; and an onboard unit (OBU) provided in the vehicle, said OBU comprising: 1) a vehicle control module controlling the vehicle; and 2) a roadside unit (RSU) communication module communicating with a RSU and receiving vehicle-specific traffic operations instructions from the RSU, wherein the sensing module fuses data from a plurality of sensors of the vehicle and the vehicle-specific traffic operations instructions provided by the RSU, and uses a backup plan if a sensor of the plurality of sensors has a functional problem; and wherein the vehicle control module controls the vehicle using the driving environment information collected by said sensing module, and the vehicle-specific traffic operations instructions provided by the RSU.
9. 9 . The AV control system of claim 8 , wherein said RSU communication module is configured to employ wireless communication technologies selected from the group consisting of cellular 3G, 4G, 5G; Bluetooth, DSRC, V2X, and Wi-Fi.
10. 10 . The AV control system of claim 8 , wherein said driving environment information comprises a vehicle speed, a vehicle headway, a vehicle acceleration/deceleration rate, a distance between a carriageway marking and a vehicle, an angle of a vehicle with respect to a central line, and/or a general traffic status.
11. 11 . The AV control system of claim 8 , wherein said sensing module receives sensor information from one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of a vision sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, a differential global positioning system (DGPS) sensor, an infrared sensor, and a laser sensor.
12. 12 . The AV control system of claim 8 , wherein said driving environment information comprises weather information, pavement conditions, and/or estimated travel time.
13. 13 . The AV control system of claim 8 , wherein said vehicle control module controls a vehicle according to vehicle control instructions comprising instructions for speed, spacing, lane designation, vehicle following, lane changing, and/or route.
14. 14 . The AV control system of claim 8 , wherein said RSU provide: vehicle-specific control instructions; and/or vehicle-specific information comprising a desirable speed, a desirable spacing of vehicles, a desirable traffic volume, a desirable traffic split at access points, and/or traffic signal timing parameters.
15. 15 . An autonomous vehicle (AV) control system comprising: a sensing module provided in a vehicle, said sensing module collecting driving environment information; and an onboard unit (OBU) provided in the vehicle, said OBU comprising: 1) a vehicle control module controlling the vehicle; and 2) a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication module, said V2V communication module communicating with a second vehicle and receiving vehicle-specific targeted instructions and driving environment information from said second vehicle; wherein the sensing module fuses data from a plurality of sensors of the vehicle, and the vehicle-specific targeted instructions and driving environment information provided by said second vehicle, and uses a backup plan if a sensor of the plurality of sensors has a functional problem; wherein the vehicle control module controls the vehicle using the driving environment information collected by said sensing module, and the vehicle-specific targeted instructions and driving environment information provided by said second vehicle.
16. 16 . The AV control system of claim 15 , wherein said driving environment information comprises a vehicle speed, a vehicle headway, a vehicle acceleration/deceleration rate, a distance between a carriageway marking and a vehicle, an angle of a vehicle with respect to a central line, and/or a general traffic status.
17. 17 . The AV control system of claim 15 , wherein said sensing module receives sensor information from one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of a vision sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, a differential global positioning system (DGPS) sensor, an infrared sensor, and a laser sensor.
18. 18 . The AV control system of claim 15 , wherein said driving environment information comprises weather information, pavement conditions, and/or estimated travel time.
19. 19 . The AV control system of claim 15 , wherein said vehicle control module controls a vehicle according to vehicle control instructions comprising instructions for speed, spacing, lane designation, vehicle following, lane changing, and/or route.
20. 20 . The AV control system of claim 15 , wherein said second vehicle provide: vehicle-specific information comprising a vehicle speed, a vehicle headway, a vehicle acceleration/deceleration rate, a distance between a carriageway marking and a vehicle, an angle of a vehicle with respect to a central line, and/or a general traffic status.

Description

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/594,856, filed Mar. 4, 2024, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,518,622, issued on Jan. 6, 2026, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/873,676, filed Jul. 26, 2022, now U.S. U.S. Pat. No. 11,955,002, issued on Apr. 9, 2024, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/509,615, filed Jul. 12, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,482,102, issued on Oct. 25, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/628,331, filed Jun. 20, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,380,886, issued on Aug. 13, 2019, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/507,453 , filed May 17, 2017, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD The present invention relates generally to a comprehensive system providing full vehicle operations and control for connected and automated vehicles (CAV), and, more particularly, to a system controlling CAVs by sending individual vehicles with detailed and time-sensitive control instructions for vehicle following, lane changing, route guidance, and related information. BACKGROUND Autonomous vehicles, vehicles that are capable of sensing their environment and navigating without or with reduced human input, are in development. At present, they are in experimental testing and not in widespread commercial use. Existing approaches require expensive and complicated on-board systems, making widespread implementation a substantial challenge. SUMMARY The present invention provides a comprehensive system providing full vehicle operations and control for connected and automated vehicle and highway systems by sending individual vehicles with detailed and time-sensitive control instructions. It is suitable for a portion of lanes, or all lanes of the highway. Those instructions are vehicle specific and they are sent by lowest level traffic control units (TCUs), which are optimized and passed from top level traffic control centers (TCCs). These TCC/TCUs are in a hierarchical structure and cover different levels of areas. In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide a transportation management system, or use thereof, that provides full vehicle operations and control for connected and automated vehicle and highway systems by sending individual vehicles with detailed and time-sensitive control instructions for one or more or all of vehicle following, lane changing, route guidance, and related information. In some embodiments, the systems and methods comprise one or more or all of: a) a hierarchy of traffic control centers/units (TCCs/TCUs), that process information and give traffic operations instructions, wherein said TCCs and TCUs are automatic or semi-automated computational modules that focus on data gathering, information processing, network optimization, and traffic control; b) a network of Road Side Units (RSUs), that receive data flow from connected vehicles, detect traffic conditions, and send targeted instructions to vehicles, wherein, in some embodiments, said RSU network focuses on data sensing, data processing, control signal delivery, and information distribution, and point or segment TCUs can be combined or integrated with a RSU; c) a vehicle sub-system housed on one or more vehicles, collectively comprising, for example, a mixed traffic flow of vehicles at different levels of connectivity and automation; and d) communication systems, that provide wired and wireless communication services to one or more or all the entities in the system. One or more entities may manage, control, or own one or more of the components. Entities include individuals in vehicles, private and public transportation agencies, communication providers, and third party managers. Individually managed components may be configured to communication with and control or be controlled by one or more other components. For example, an autonomous vehicle control system housed in a vehicle may comprise one or more or all of: a) a communication link with a hierarchy of traffic control centers/units (TCCs/TCUs), which process information and give traffic operations instructions, wherein said TCCs and TCUs are automatic or semi-automated computational modules that focus on data gathering, information processing, network optimization, and traffic control; b) a communication link with network of Road Side Units (RSUs), which receive data flow from connected vehicles, detect traffic conditions, and send targeted instructions to vehicles, wherein said RSU network focuses on data sensing, data processing, control signal delivery, and information distribution, and said point or segment TCU can be combined or integrated with a RSU; and a vehicle sub-system, configured to receive detailed and time-sensitive control instructions for vehicle following, lane changing, route guidance, and related information. In some embodiments, the systems and methods are configured to be operational on a