Abstract: Vehicles according to at least some embodiments of the disclosure include a sensor, and a computing device comprising at least one hardware processing unit. The computing device is programmed to perform operations comprising capturing an image with the sensor, identifying an object in the image, and in response to an accuracy of the identification meeting a first criterion, pre-loading a braking system of the autonomous vehicle. In some aspects, the computing device may predict that an object not currently within a path of the vehicle has a probability of entering the path of the vehicle that meets a second criterion. When the probability of entering the path meets the second criterion, some of the disclosed embodiments may pre-load the braking system.

Abstract: Vehicles according to at least some embodiments of the disclosure include a sensor, and a computing device comprising at least one hardware processing unit. The computing device is programmed to perform operations comprising capturing an image with the sensor, identifying an object in the image, and in response to an accuracy of the identification meeting a first criterion, pre-loading a braking system of the autonomous vehicle. In some aspects, the computing device may predict that an object not currently within a path of the vehicle has a probability of entering the path of the vehicle that meets a second criterion. When the probability of entering the path meets the second criterion, some of the disclosed embodiments may pre-load the braking system.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems and methods for obtaining real-time road friction coefficient estimations. In one embodiment, a regression function is learned using a training data set which correlates input data measurements arriving from onboard system sensors and coefficient estimations arriving from an extension system. In another embodiment, the learned regression function can be retrieved to obtain real-time road friction coefficient estimations while the system is in motion.