Abstract: A method is provided that includes receiving user input identifying a travel destination for a first vehicle, determining, by a processor, a first route for the first vehicle to follow, and configuring the first vehicle to follow the first route. The method further includes obtaining a model for a second vehicle that shares a road with the first vehicle and comparing model to a pre-determined template for a vehicle that is known to be a special purpose vehicle in order to determine whether the first template and the second template match. The method further includes determining, by the processor, a second route that leads to the travel destination, when a match is found to exist, and switching the first vehicle from following the first route to following the second route.

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to stopping a vehicle. For instance, a vehicle is controlled in an autonomous driving mode by generating first commands for acceleration control and sending the first commands to an acceleration and/or steering actuator of an acceleration system of the vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to accelerate. Acceleration and/or orientation of the vehicle is monitored while the vehicle is being operated in an autonomous driving mode. The monitored acceleration and/or orientation is compared with the first commands. An error with the acceleration and/or steering system is determined based on the comparison. When the error is determined, the vehicle is controlled in the autonomous driving mode by generating second commands which do not require any acceleration and/or steering.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for determining whether a driving environment has changed relative to previously stored information about the driving environment. The apparatus may include an autonomous driving computer system configured to detect one or more vehicles in the driving environment, and determine corresponding trajectories for those detected vehicles. The autonomous driving computer system may then compare the determined trajectories to an expected trajectory of a hypothetical vehicle in the driving environment. Based on the comparison, the autonomous driving computer system may determine whether the driving environment has changed and/or a probability that the driving environment has changed, relative to the previously stored information about the driving environment.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to limiting the use of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle by particular occupants based on permission data. More specifically, permission data may include destinations, routes, and/or other information that is predefined or set by a third party. The vehicle may then access the permission data in order to transport the particular occupant to the predefined destination, for example, without deviation from the predefined route. The vehicle may drop the particular occupant off at the destination and may wait until the passenger is ready to move to another predefined destination. The permission data may be used to limit the ability of the particular occupant to change the route of the vehicle completely or by some maximum deviation value. For example, the vehicle may be able to deviate from the route up to a particular distance from or along the route.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to multiple view optical systems. An example optical system includes at least one primary optical element configured to receive incident light from a scene and a plurality of relay mirrors optically coupled to the at least one primary optical element. The optical system also includes a lens optically coupled to the plurality of relay mirrors, and an image sensor configured to receive focused light from the lens. The image sensor includes a first light-sensitive area and a second light-sensitive area. The primary optical element, the plurality of relay mirrors, and the lens interact with the incident light to form a first focused light portion and a second focused light portion. The first focused light portion forms a first image portion of the scene on the first light-sensitive area and the second focused light portion forms a second image portion of the scene on the second light-sensitive area.

Abstract: The technology relates to predicting that an object is going to enter into a trajectory of a vehicle. This may include receiving sensor data identifying a first location of the object in an environment of the vehicle at a first point in time and receiving sensor data identifying a second location of the object in the environment at a second point in time. In addition, a boundary of the trajectory is determined by defining at least a two-dimensional area through which the vehicle is expected to travel in the future. A first distance between the boundary and the first location and a second distance between the trajectory and the second location are determined. The first distance and the second distance are used to determine that the object is going to enter into the trajectory at a future point in time.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for generating a representation of a trajectory of a target agent in an environment. In one aspect, the representation of the trajectory of the target agent in the environment is a concatenation of a plurality of channels, where each channel is represented as a two-dimensional array of data values. Each position in each channel corresponds to a respective spatial position in the environment, and corresponding positions in different channels correspond to the same spatial position in the environment. The channels include a time channel and a respective motion channel corresponding to each motion parameter in a predetermined set of motion parameters.

Abstract: Examples described may related to an imaging sensor used by a vehicle, including a light sensor. The light sensor comprises a plurality of cells aligned in a plurality of horizontal rows and a plurality of vertical columns. The apparatus further includes an optical system configured to provide the light sensor with a field of view of an external environment of the apparatus. Additionally, the system includes a processing unit configured to: divide the plurality of horizontal rows of the light sensor into one or more enabled rows and one or more disabled rows; obtain image data from the light sensor by sampling one or more cells in the one or more enabled rows; and store the received image data in a memory.

Abstract: A method is provided for mounting a plurality of radar units to a vehicle. The method involves determining, for each radar unit, a measured pitch direction and a measured yaw direction based on data obtained using a photogrammetry system. The method also involves determining yaw angles between at least two of the radar units based on at least one of the measured yaw directions. The method also involves determining, for each radar unit, a pitch offset and a yaw offset. The method also involves adjusting at least one of the radar units based on at least one of the determined pitch offsets and at least one of the determined yaw offsets. Also provided is a device for performing the method.

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure provide for controlling an autonomous vehicle to enter a driveway. As an example, an instruction to pickup or drop off a passenger at a location may be received. It may be determined that the vehicle is arriving in a lane on an opposite side of a street as the location, the lane having a traffic direction opposite to a traffic direction of a lane adjacent to the location. A difficulty score to maneuver the vehicle to the lane adjacent to the location may be determined, and the difficulty score may be compared to a predetermined difficulty score. Based on the comparison, it may be determined to an available driveway on the same side of the street as the location. The vehicle may be controlled to enter the available driveway.

Abstract: The technology relates to detection of aberrant driving situations during operation of a vehicle in an autonomous driving mode. Aberrant situations may include potential theft or unsafe conditions, which are determined according to one or more signals. The signals are derived from information detected about the environment around the vehicle, such as from one or more sensors disposed on the vehicle. In response to an aberrant situation, the vehicle may take various corrective action, such as rerouting, locking down the vehicle or communicating with remote assistance. The type of corrective action taken may depend on a type of cargo being transported or whether one or more passengers are in the vehicle. If there are passengers, the system may communicate with the passengers via the passenger's client computing devices or by presenting visual or audible information via a user interface system of the vehicle.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a waveguide of an antenna block configured to propagate electromagnetic energy along a propagation direction. The antenna block includes a port located on a bottom surface of the antenna block and an antenna array located on a top surface of the antenna block. The antenna block further includes a set of waveguides in the antenna block configured to couple the antenna array to the port. Additionally, the antenna block includes at least one surface wave radiator, where the surface wave radiator is located on the top surface of the antenna block.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a fiber encapsulation mechanism for energy dissipation in a fiber amplifying system. One example embodiment includes an optical fiber amplifier. The optical fiber amplifier includes an optical fiber that includes a gain medium, as well as a polymer layer that at least partially surrounds the optical fiber. The polymer layer is optically transparent. In addition, the optical fiber amplifier includes a pump source. Optical pumping by the pump source amplifies optical signals in the optical fiber and generates excess heat and excess photons. The optical fiber amplifier additionally includes a heatsink layer disposed adjacent to the polymer layer. The heatsink layer conducts the excess heat away from the optical fiber. Further, the optical fiber amplifier includes an optically transparent layer disposed adjacent to the polymer layer. The optically transparent layer transmits the excess photons away from the optical fiber.

Abstract: Systems and methods described herein relate to the manufacture of optical elements and optical systems. An example method includes providing a first substrate that has a plurality of light-emitter devices disposed on a first surface. The method includes providing a second substrate that has a mounting surface defining a reference plane. The method includes forming a structure and an optical spacer on the mounting surface of the second substrate. The method additionally includes coupling the first and second substrates together such that the first surface of the first substrate faces the mounting surface of the second substrate at an angle with respect to the reference plane.

Abstract: The technology relates to identifying and addressing aberrant driver behavior. Various driving operations may be evaluated over different time scales and driving distances. The system can detect driving errors and suboptimal maneuvering, which are evaluated by an onboard driver assistance system and compared against a model of expected driver behavior. The result of this comparison can be used to alert the driver or take immediate corrective driving action. It may also be used for real-time or offline training or sensor calibration purposes. The behavior model may be driver-specific, or may be a nominal driver model based on aggregated information from many drivers. These approaches can be employed with drivers of passenger vehicles, busses, cargo trucks and other vehicles.

Abstract: The disclosure provides a method for operating an autonomous vehicle. To operate the autonomous vehicle, a plurality of lane segments that are in an environment of the autonomous vehicle is determined and a first object and a second object in the environment are detected. A first position for the first object is determined in relation to the plurality of lane segments, and particular lane segments that are occluded by the first object are determined using the first position. According to the occluded lane segments, a reaction time is determined for the second object and a driving instruction for the autonomous vehicle is determined according to the reaction time. The autonomous vehicle is then operated based on the driving instruction.

Abstract: Some aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein include a system implemented on one or more data processing apparatuses. The system can include an interface configured to obtain, from one or more sensor subsystems, sensor data describing an environment of a vehicle, and to generate, using the sensor data, (i) one or more first neural network inputs representing sensor measurements for a particular object in the environment and (ii) a second neural network input representing sensor measurements for at least a portion of the environment that encompasses the particular object and additional portions of the environment that are not represented by the one or more first neural network inputs; and a convolutional neural network configured to process the second neural network input to generate an output, the output including a plurality of feature vectors that each correspond to a different one a plurality of regions of the environment.