Abstract: A method includes identifying an object that is invading a lane that an autonomous vehicle is occupying, and generating a constraint about a point of crossing, where the constraint has a direction and a length, and the point of crossing represents a location of where the object and the autonomous vehicle will collide if the object maintains its current trajectory and the autonomous vehicle maintains its current trajectory. The method includes applying the constraint to a motion plan associated with the autonomous vehicle, and issuing one or more commands to adjust movement of the autonomous vehicle in response to encountering the constraint.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer program products for controlling acceleration of a vehicle. The methods comprising: detecting a lateral distance from a point on a trajectory of the vehicle to an object the vehicle is expected to pass when following the trajectory, the object being located off of and to a side of the trajectory and the point representing a future location of the vehicle while passing the object; comparing the lateral distance to a threshold value; selecting whether acceleration limiting is to be performed by the vehicle based on whether the lateral distance is less than the threshold value; and causing the vehicle to perform operations for autonomous driving with or without acceleration limiting based on said selecting.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer program products for controlling acceleration of a vehicle. The methods comprising: detecting a lateral distance from a point on a trajectory of the vehicle to a first object the vehicle is expected to pass when following the trajectory; selecting whether acceleration limiting is to be performed by the vehicle based on the lateral distance; obtaining a margin of the vehicle defined by a sequence of points; obtaining an amount by which the acceleration of the vehicle is to be limited based on the trajectory and the margin of the vehicle, when a selection is made that acceleration limiting is to be performed by the vehicle; and causing the vehicle to perform operations for autonomous driving with limiting of acceleration by the obtained amount.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer program products for controlling acceleration of a vehicle. The methods comprising: detecting, by a computing device, a lateral distance from a point on a trajectory of the vehicle to a first object the vehicle is expected to pass when following the trajectory, the first object being located off of and to a side of the trajectory and the point representing a future location of the vehicle while passing the first object; selecting, by the computing device, whether acceleration limiting is to be performed by the vehicle based on the lateral distance; obtaining an amount by which the acceleration of the vehicle is to be limited, when a selection is made that acceleration limiting is to be performed by the vehicle; and causing, by the computing device, the vehicle to perform operations for autonomous driving with limiting of acceleration by the obtained amount.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer program products for biasing a trajectory of a vehicle. The methods comprise: identifying a lane biasing interval of a lane in which the vehicle is to travel based on a lane width; obtaining a first reference path of travel for the vehicle that passes through the lane biasing interval; generating a second reference path of travel for the vehicle using a plurality of lateral offsets and the first reference path of travel for the vehicle; and adjusting the trajectory of the vehicle using the second reference path of travel. The lateral offsets are based on a lateral offset from each index point of the first reference path that resides in the lane biasing interval.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer program products for generating a reference path for an autonomous vehicle. The methods comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a reference trajectory for the autonomous vehicle; generating, by the computing device, a first alternative trajectory for the autonomous vehicle based on an objective identified by the reference trajectory; comparing, by the computing device, the first alternative trajectory to the reference trajectory or a previously generated alternative trajectory; selecting, by the computing device, whether to generate a second alternative trajectory based on a result of said comparing; and generating, by the computing device, the second alternative trajectory for the autonomous vehicle in response to said selecting.

Abstract: Systems and methods of maneuvering an autonomous vehicle in a local region using topological planning, while traversing a route to a destination location, are disclosed. The system includes an autonomous vehicle including one or more sensors and a processor. The processor is configured to determine the local region on the route and receive real-time information corresponding to the local region. The processor performs topological planning to identify on or more topologically distinct classes of trajectories, compute a constraint set for each of the one or more topologically distinct classes of trajectories, optimize a trajectory to generate a candidate trajectory for each constraint set, and select a trajectory for the autonomous vehicle to traverse the local region from amongst the one or more candidate trajectories.

Abstract: This document describes methods and systems for enabling an autonomous vehicle (AV) to determine a path to a stopping location. The AV will determine a desired stop location (DSL) that is associated with a service request. The AV's motion control system will move the AV along a path to the DSL. While moving along the path, the AV's perception system will detect ambient conditions near the DSL. The ambient conditions will be parameters associated with a stopping rule. The AV will apply the stopping rule to the ambient conditions to determine whether the stopping rule permits the AV to stop at the DSL. If the stopping rule permits the AV to stop at the DSL, the motion control system will move the AV to, and stop at, the DSL. Otherwise, the motion control system will not stop the AV at the DSL.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product aspects for enabling an autonomous vehicle (AV) to react to objects posing a risk to the AV. The system can monitor an object within a vicinity of the AV. A plurality of trajectories predicting paths the object will take can be generated, the plurality of trajectories being based on a plurality of inputs indicating current and past characteristics of the object. Using a learned model, a forecasted position of the object at an instance in time can be generated. An error value representing how accurate the forecasted position is versus an observed position of the object can be stored. Error values can be accumulated over a period of time. A risk factor can be assigned for the object based on the accumulated error values. A maneuver for the AV can be performed based on the risk factor.

Abstract: Systems and methods for generating a trajectory of a vehicle are disclosed. The methods include generating a spatial domain speed profile for a path represented as a sequence of poses of a vehicle between a first point and a second point. Generation of the spatial domain speed profile uses a longitudinal problem while excluding a derate interval on the path when speed of the vehicle cannot exceed a threshold. The methods further include generating a derate profile using the spatial domain speed profile and the derate interval, and transforming the derate interval to a temporal derate interval. The temporal derate interval may include time steps at which the speed of the vehicle cannot exceed the threshold while traversing the path, and may be used as an input to the longitudinal problem for generating a trajectory of the vehicle for navigating between the first point and the second point.

Abstract: A method includes identifying an object that is invading a lane that an autonomous vehicle is occupying, and generating a constraint about a point of crossing, where the constraint has a direction and a length, and the point of crossing represents a location of where the object and the autonomous vehicle will collide if the object maintains its current trajectory and the autonomous vehicle maintains its current trajectory. The method includes applying the constraint to a motion plan associated with the autonomous vehicle, and issuing one or more commands to adjust movement of the autonomous vehicle in response to encountering the constraint.

Abstract: A system of linearizing a trajectory of an autonomous vehicle about a reference path includes a computing device and a computer-readable storage medium.

Abstract: Methods and systems for enabling an autonomous vehicle (AV) to determine a path to a stopping location are disclosed. Upon receipt of a service request, the AV will determine a desired stop location (DSL) and state information for the service request. The AV using the DSL and the state information to define a pickup/drop-off interval that comprises an area of a road that includes the DSL. When approaching the pickup/drop-off interval, the AV will uses its perception system to determine whether an object is occluding the DSL. If no object is occluding the DSL, the AV will continue along the path toward the DSL. However, if an object is occluding the DSL, the AV will identify and move to a non-occluded alternate stop location (ASL) within the pickup/drop-off interval. The ASL must satisfy one or more permissible stopping location criteria.

Abstract: A ride service system will determine a stopping location for an autonomous vehicle (AV) before the AV picks up a passenger in response to a ride service request. The system will determine a pickup area for the request, along with a loading point within a pickup area, and the AV will navigate along the route toward the pickup area. Before the AV reaches the pickup area, the system will determine whether it received a departure confirmation indicating that the passenger is at the loading point. If the system received the departure confirmation, the AV will navigate into the pickup area and stop at the loading point; otherwise, the AV will either (a) navigate to an intermediate stopping location before reaching the pickup area or (b) pass through the pickup area.

Abstract: This document describes methods and systems for enabling an autonomous vehicle (AV) to determine a path to a stopping location. The AV will determine a desired stop location (DSL) that is associated with a service request. The AV's motion control system will move the AV along a path to the DSL. While moving along the path, the AV's perception system will detect ambient conditions near the DSL. The ambient conditions will be parameters associated with a stopping rule. The AV will apply the stopping rule to the ambient conditions to determine whether the stopping rule permits the AV to stop at the DSL. If the stopping rule permits the AV to stop at the DSL, the motion control system will move the AV to, and stop at, the DSL. Otherwise, the motion control system will not stop the AV at the DSL.

Abstract: Methods and systems for maneuvering an autonomous vehicle are disclosed. The methods include generating a multi-corridor representation corresponding to a local region around the autonomous vehicle while travelling on a route, and using the multi-corridor representation and perception data corresponding to the local region to generate a trajectory for the autonomous vehicle to traverse the local region. The multi-corridor representation includes a plurality of adjacent corridors that each include one or more lane segments of a road network. A location of executing a lane change along the route is determined dynamically during a trajectory generation phase based on the perception data.

Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods are provided for counter-steering penalization. A device may analyze, by one or more processors, lane geometry associated with one or more lanes at a geographic location. The device may identify one or more corners in the lane geometry. The device may select one or more desired maximum steering angles of a steering wheel of an autonomous vehicle. The device may select weight values associated with the one or more desired maximum steering angles. The device may execute a path planning optimization based on the one or more desired maximum steering angles and the weight values.

Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods are provided for enhanced rider pairing of an autonomous vehicle (AV). A system may pair a first user profile of a first user located at a first location with a first autonomous vehicle (AV) to complete a trip to a destination selected by the first user. The system may detect a second AV at the first location, wherein the second AV is associated with a second user profile. The system may connect the second AV with the first user using a connection mechanism. The system may select a profile status of the first user profile based on the connection to the second AV. The system may pair the first user profile with the second AV based on the profile status.

Abstract: A system of linearizing a trajectory of an autonomous vehicle about a reference path includes a computing device and a computer-readable storage medium.

Abstract: Systems and methods of maneuvering an autonomous vehicle in a local region using topological planning, while traversing a route to a destination location, are disclosed. The system includes an autonomous vehicle including one or more sensors and a processor. The processor is configured to determine the local region on the route and receive real-time information corresponding to the local region. The processor performs topological planning to identify on or more topologically distinct classes of trajectories, compute a constraint set for each of the one or more topologically distinct classes of trajectories, optimize a trajectory to generate a candidate trajectory for each constraint set, and select a trajectory for the autonomous vehicle to traverse the local region from amongst the one or more candidate trajectories.