Patents Assigned to Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
  • Patent number: 12365384
    Abstract: There is provided mechanisms for compensating for backlash in a steering house of a steering system in a vehicle. A method is performed by a controller of the steering system. The method comprises obtaining a hysteresis model of the backlash in the steering house. The hysteresis model has an inverse. The method comprises obtaining a control signal to be input to an electric motor of the steering system. The control signal defines a desired set point for the steering system. The method comprises determining an adjusted set point for the steering system based on the inverse of the hysteresis model, the desired set point, and a current operating point in the hysteresis model. The adjusted set point defines an adjusted control signal. The method comprises compensating for the backlash in the steering house by providing the adjusted control signal, instead of the control signal, as input to the electric motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2025
    Assignee: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Emil Klintberg, Robert Hult, Dandan Ge
  • Publication number: 20250208633
    Abstract: A computer system comprising processing circuitry is presented. The processing circuitry is configured to obtain vehicle data of a specific vehicle and obtain map data of a confined off-road area. The processing circuitry is further configured to determine drivable area data for the specific vehicle within the confined off-road area based on the vehicle data and the map data; and provide the drivable area data for routing of the specific vehicle within the confined off-road area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2024
    Publication date: June 26, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Calle SKILLSÄTER, Johan Sjöberg, Helena Götlind
  • Publication number: 20250187616
    Abstract: A method for assisting in the operation of a malfunctioning autonomous vehicle in a work environment is provided. The method comprising obtaining diagnostics data indicative of a malfunction in the autonomous vehicle. The method further comprises determining a fault associated with the autonomous vehicle based on the diagnostics data. The method further comprises deciding a preventive action between a set of preventive actions for securing the at least one area based on the determined fault. The set of preventive actions comprising any one or a combination of: triggering the autonomous vehicle to refrain from traversing and/or operating in the at least one area, or to increase safety requirements for traversing and/or operating in the at least one area, and triggering an adaption of road infrastructure in the at least one area, which adaption prompts a restriction of movement of the at least one manual actor in the at least one area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2022
    Publication date: June 12, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Linus HAGVALL, Stefan BERGQUIST
  • Publication number: 20250182621
    Abstract: A computer system controls movements of a plurality of vehicles in a confined geographical area. A subset of static nodes defines a topological representation of the at least one vehicle path, each static node further having a set of vehicle-related threshold conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2024
    Publication date: June 5, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Fabio FORCOLIN, ÅSA ROGENFELT
  • Publication number: 20250182012
    Abstract: A computer system having processing circuitry configured to handle two or more operating parameters associated with a set of vehicles operating in a work site is provided. The processing circuitry obtains a first indication indicative of an adjustment to be performed to the two or more operating parameters associated with the set of vehicles. The processing circuitry triggers the adjustment indicated by the first indication to be applied to the two or more operating parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2024
    Publication date: June 5, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Thorsten HELFRICH, Christoffer MARKUSSON, Peter NILSSON
  • Publication number: 20250148910
    Abstract: A computer implemented method for monitoring an autonomous operating zone, AOZ, including a number of one or more autonomous vehicles, is provided. Each vehicle has sensors arranged to detect an ego-position of the vehicle and relative positions of surrounding objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2022
    Publication date: May 8, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Linus HAGVALL, Stefan BERGQUIST
  • Publication number: 20250136104
    Abstract: A method for estimating a region of space occupied by a vehicle which moves along a path includes: obtaining a nominal path {X(s):0?s?s0}; recording a plurality of trajectories in the vehicle's state space {x(s;q):0?s?s0} while the vehicle is maneuvered along the nominal path in a variety of driving conditions q; for each trajectory, computing a corresponding lateral deviation {e(s;q)=(el(s;q), er(s;q)):0?s?s0} off the nominal path; estimating a conditional probability distribution Fe(s)|X(s) of the lateral deviation given the nominal path; and based on the estimated probability distribution, providing an outer limit of a region of space AX occupied by the vehicle, wherein the computing of the lateral deviation and/or the providing of the outer limit is based on a footprint of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2022
    Publication date: May 1, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Rikard WADMAN, Oliver SUNDELL
  • Publication number: 20250118207
    Abstract: A computer system controls movements of a plurality of vehicles in a confined geographical area. The computer system has processing circuitry configured to: define at least one vehicle path within the confined geographical area, the at least one vehicle path containing at least one vehicle zone, and further being delimited to a single vehicle lane; obtain real-time vehicle travelling profiles of the plurality of vehicles intended to travel in the at least one vehicle zone; estimate, based on the obtained real-time vehicle travelling profiles, a possibility of having a set of vehicles among the plurality of vehicles accessing the at least one vehicle zone and travelling along the single vehicle lane at the same time; determine that the possibility satisfies a safety criterion; and feed motion commands to the set of vehicles for realizing their routes through the at least one vehicle zone together.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2024
    Publication date: April 10, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Fabio FORCOLIN, Åsa ROGENFELT
  • Publication number: 20250086535
    Abstract: A method for operating a plurality of vehicles is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a first set of vehicle data and a second set of vehicle data, the vehicle data comprising information about each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each vehicle operating along at least one fixed route, receiving a first set of environmental data and a second set of environmental data, the environmental data comprising information about each fixed route, and estimating, by means of the global self-learning model and each local-self learning model, a schedule parameter for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles based on the received first set of vehicle data, the received first set of environmental data, the received second set of vehicle data, the received second set of environmental data, and a predefined interaction model between the global self-learning model and each local-self learning model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: March 13, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Mohammad Manjurul ISLAM, David RYLANDER
  • Publication number: 20250076877
    Abstract: A method to determine if a traffic situation comprising a plurality of heavy-duty vehicles following a plurality of guided vehicle trajectories in a defined area will lead to a vehicle deadlock is described. For example, one method includes generating a traffic situation representation for the defined area comprising, for each of the plurality of vehicles, an initial vehicle trajectory segment location and a subsequent deadlock status, inputting the traffic situation representation to a traffic situation deadlock classifier which has been trained to output a traffic situation deadlock classification based on an input representation of a traffic situation in the defined area, and, based on the input traffic situation representation, generating a predicted deadlock classification of a subsequent traffic situation for that input traffic situation representation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2023
    Publication date: March 6, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Jonas HELLGREN, Åsa ROGENFELT
  • Publication number: 20250071600
    Abstract: A computer system for handling bandwidth of a wireless communication link for a vehicle is provided. The computer system comprises processing circuitry configured to determine which state a latency critical system of the vehicle is in, and to, when the latency critical system is determined to be in an active state, determine to limit a bandwidth of a wireless communication link between the vehicle and a wireless communication network such that at least a part of the limited bandwidth is reserved for the latency critical system in active state and a non-latency critical system is at least partly limited from consuming the limited bandwidth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2024
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Calle SKILLSÄTER, Johan SJÖBERG
  • Publication number: 20250033654
    Abstract: A control system for motion management of a heavy-duty vehicle includes an upper-level control system and a lower-level control system. The upper-level control system is arranged to obtain a desired motion behavior by the vehicle and to transmit one or more control signals adapted for control of at least one motion support device, MSD, to the lower-level control system in dependence of the desired motion behavior by the vehicle. The one or more control signals transmitted from the upper-level control system to the lower-level control system comprises data indicative of a desired control bandwidth for control of the at least one MSD. The lower-level control system is arranged to receive the control signals and to control the at least one MSD in dependence of the desired control bandwidth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventor: Thorsten HELFRICH
  • Publication number: 20240386794
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of assessing vehicle trajectories for deadlock scenarios in a site where multiple vehicles operate by following planned vehicle trajectories is described. The site includes at least one traffic-constrained area via which at least two of the multiple vehicles passes when following their planned trajectories.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2024
    Publication date: November 21, 2024
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Åsa ROGENFELT, Jonas Hellgren
  • Publication number: 20240379000
    Abstract: A computer-implemented traffic planning method controls a plurality of vehicles which are movable among multiple shared resources. The method includes receiving a transport mission; generating a root node representing an initial resource occupancy of the vehicles; generating a search tree from the root node, in which each edge represents a motion command and each node represents a resource occupancy, wherein each node is associated with a score related to the vehicles' fulfilment of the transport mission; identifying a target node with an acceptable score; and deriving a planned sequence of motion commands corresponding to a path to the target node. The score of a node includes a short-term component, which represents a cost of executing all motion commands from the root node to said node, and a long-term component, which is determined by the resource occupancy that the node represents.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2024
    Publication date: November 14, 2024
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Jonas HELLGREN, Stefan KOJCHEV
  • Publication number: 20240371268
    Abstract: A method of planning trajectories for vehicles operating in a common environment, wherein movements of each vehicle are controllable by a control signal is provided the method includes for each vehicle, obtaining a predefined vehicle path to be traversed; performing a first computation to obtain a vehicle crossing order at each mutually exclusive—MUTEX—zone between two vehicle paths, wherein the first computation is subject to safety constraints; and performing trajectory planning subject to the obtained vehicle crossing order at the MUTEX zones, to obtain a control signal for each of the vehicles. The method further includes assigning a dependency metric to each pair of vehicles, and partitioning the vehicles into a number NSG of vehicle subsets such that the dependency metric exceeds a threshold within each, wherein the trajectory planning is performed as multiple independent subproblems, each relating to one of the vehicle subsets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2024
    Publication date: November 7, 2024
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Stefan KOJCHEV, Robert HULT, Maximilian KNEISSL
  • Patent number: 12123724
    Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to a computer implemented method for operating a vehicle (104, 106, 108), specifically in relation to efficient transporting of a predefined cargo. The present disclosure also relates to a corresponding arrangement and computer program product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Jonas Hellgren, Leo Laine
  • Publication number: 20240317267
    Abstract: A method for controlling a maximum allowed speed of an autonomous vehicle includes utilizing a first sensor performance level during driving where the vehicle is allowed to drive with a first maximum allowed speed, while utilizing the first sensor performance level, simultaneously monitoring a rate of false positive object detections for the second sensor performance level which is associated with a second maximum allowed speed which is higher than the first maximum allowed speed and which is a less restrictive sensor performance level, wherein a less restrictive sensor performance level is a sensor performance level with a higher probability of false positive object detections, when the rate of false positive object detections for the second sensor performance level is below a first false positive error threshold, utilizing a less restrictive sensor performance level which is associated with a higher maximum allowed speed, thereby increasing the maximum allowed speed from the first maximum allowed speed to a
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2021
    Publication date: September 26, 2024
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Stefan BERGQUIST, Linus HAGVALL
  • Patent number: 12094337
    Abstract: A method of visualizing output data of a traffic planning method for controlling a plurality of vehicles (v1, v2, . . . ), wherein each vehicle occupies one node in a shared set of planning nodes (wp1, wp2, . . . ) and is movable to other nodes along predefined edges between pairs of the nodes, wherein the output data indicates respective planned node occupancies of the vehicles for a sequence of time steps, the method comprising: obtaining a graphical representation of the planning nodes; and in the graphical representation, indicating each vehicle's planned movements between the nodes by linear graphical elements, wherein an appearance parameter of the linear graphical elements has a time variation with respect to the time step, which time variation is common to all vehicles. The appearance parameter may be a line width, line style, color or texture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventor: Jonas Hellgren
  • Publication number: 20240278806
    Abstract: A method of controlling a backup motion control system for an autonomous vehicle is provided. The autonomous vehicle includes a primary steering system for controlling steering operations of a pair of steerable wheels. Each of the steerable wheels comprises a wheel brake, the wheel brakes being connected to an anti-lock braking system for preventing the wheel brakes from being locked when the anti-lock braking system is arranged in an enabled state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2021
    Publication date: August 22, 2024
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Linus HAGVALL, Stefan BERGQUIST, Peter NILSSON
  • Publication number: 20240220896
    Abstract: A method for controlling a plurality of vehicles performing missions along a respective route includes obtaining for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, a first value of a balance parameter, indicative of a balance between a cost for operating the respective vehicle along at least a part of the route, and a progress of the respective vehicle along at least a part of the route, establishing, in dependence on the first balance parameter values, a desired number of completed missions as a function of time, after an initial of the missions has started, and before all missions are completed, determining a mission completion deviation comprising a deviation of an actual number of completed missions from the desired number of completed missions, obtaining for each of one or more of the vehicles a second balance parameter value, different from the respective first balance parameter value, the respective second balance parameter value being dependent on the mission completion deviation, and controlling the one
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2021
    Publication date: July 4, 2024
    Applicant: Volvo Autonomous Solutions AB
    Inventors: Jonas HELLGREN, Mohammad Manjurul ISLAM