Abstract: Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

Abstract: Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous vehicles and associated mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware, computer software and systems, and wired and wireless network communications to provide an autonomous vehicle fleet as a service. In particular, a method may include monitoring a fleet of vehicles, at least one of which is configured to autonomously transit from a first geographic region to a second geographic region, detecting data indicating an event associated with the vehicle having a calculated confidence level, receiving data representing a subset of candidate trajectories responsive to detecting the event, which is associated with a planned path for the vehicle, identifying guidance data to select from one or more of the candidate trajectories as a guided trajectory, receiving data representing a selection of a candidate trajectory, and transmitting the selection of the candidate trajectory as of the guided trajectory to the vehicle.

Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.

Abstract: A method for operating a fleet of vehicles may include determining a first set of parameters for operating a first vehicle as it travels to a destination, and determining a second set of parameters for operating a second vehicle. Consumption of the first set of parameters by the first vehicle may cause the first vehicle to accelerate, alter shocks and/or suspensions, and/or move into a free lane. Consumption of the second set of parameters by the second vehicle may cause the second vehicle to remain outside of a drive envelope of the first vehicle, between the first vehicle and the particular destination.

Abstract: Remote controlling of a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, may sometimes be more efficient and/or reliable. Such control, however, may require processes for ensuring safety of surrounding persons and objects. Aspects of this disclosure include using onboard sensors to detect objects in an environment and alter remote commands according to such objects, e.g. by reducing a maximum permitted velocity of the vehicle as a function of distance to detected objects. In some examples described herein, such remote controlling may be performed by using objects in the environment as control objects, with movements of the control objects resulting in movement of the vehicle.

Abstract: A system for charging one or more batteries of a vehicle may include a charging box mounted to a vehicle to facilitate connection to a charge coupler from under the vehicle. The charge coupler may be configured to provide an electrical connection between an electrical power source and the charging box. A vehicle including the charging box may maneuver to a position above the charge coupler, after which electrical contacts of the charging box and the charge coupler may be brought into contact with one another. The charge coupler and/or the charging box may be configured to provide electrical communication between the electrical power source and the one or more batteries, so that the electrical power source may charge one or more of the batteries. Thereafter, the electrical contacts may be separated from one another, and the vehicle may maneuver away from the charge coupler.

Abstract: A system for charging a battery carried by a vehicle may include a charging box for coupling to a vehicle chassis and including interface electrical contacts electrically coupled to the battery. The system may also include a charge coupler including coupler electrical contacts for electrically coupling to the interface electrical contacts from under the vehicle and configured to be coupled to an electrical power supply. The charging box may include an interface activation surface, and the charge coupler may include a housing for enclosing the coupler electrical contacts and including a base for supporting the coupler electrical contacts, a coupler activation surface opposite the base, an opening, and a door configured to open the opening to expose the coupler electrical contacts as the interface activation surface contacts the coupler activation surface and moves the coupler activation surface toward the base.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein are directed to sharing vehicle obstacle data between vehicles and/or between vehicles and a central server. Vehicles may include sensors capturing data including, but not limited to, speed, direction, acceleration, deceleration, LIDAR data, RADAR data, SONAR data, camera data, GPS data, etc. In some implementations, acceleration of a vehicle above a threshold, such as braking or swerving, may trigger the transmission of sensor data to other vehicles and/or infrastructure devices. Vehicles that receive the transmitted data may determine a validity of the data, and may incorporate the data into operations of the receiving vehicle based at least in part on the validity of the data. Validity of the data may be based on sensor type, elapsed time or distance between detection of an obstacle or event and reception of data, a number of retransmissions, duplicative data, independent sources of data, etc.

Abstract: Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

Abstract: A method and system of using excess computational resources on autonomous vehicles. Such excess computational resources may be available during periods of low demand, or other periods of idleness (e.g., parking). Where portions of computing resources are available amongst a fleet of vehicles, such excess computing resources may be pooled as a single resource. The excess computational resources may be used, for example, to train and/or test machine-learning models. Performance metrics of such models may be determined using hardware and software on the autonomous vehicle, for example sensors. Models having performance metrics outperforming current models may be considered as validated models. Validated models may be transmitted to a remote computing system for dissemination to a fleet of vehicles.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein are directed to sharing vehicle obstacle data between vehicles and/or between vehicles and a central server. Vehicles may include sensors capturing data including, but not limited to, speed, direction, acceleration, deceleration, LIDAR data, RADAR data, SONAR data, camera data, GPS data, etc. In some implementations, acceleration of a vehicle above a threshold, such as braking or swerving, may trigger the transmission of sensor data to other vehicles and/or infrastructure devices. Vehicles that receive the transmitted data may determine a validity of the data, and may incorporate the data into operations of the receiving vehicle based at least in part on the validity of the data. Validity of the data may be based on sensor type, elapsed time or distance between detection of an obstacle or event and reception of data, a number of retransmissions, duplicative data, independent sources of data, etc.

Abstract: Systems and methods implemented in algorithms, software, firmware, logic, or circuitry may be configured to process data and sensory input to determine whether an object external to an autonomous vehicle (e.g., another vehicle, a pedestrian, road debris, a bicyclist, etc.) may be a potential collision threat to the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle may be configured to implement active safety measures to avoid the potential collision and/or mitigate the impact of an actual collision to passengers in the autonomous vehicle and/or to the autonomous vehicle itself. Interior safety systems, exterior safety systems, a drive system or some combination of those systems may be activated to implement active safety measures in the autonomous vehicle.

Abstract: Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous vehicles and associated mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware, computer software and systems, and wired and wireless network communications to provide an autonomous vehicle fleet as a service. More specifically, systems, devices, and methods are configured to initiate modification of trajectories to influence navigation of autonomous vehicles. In particular, a method may include receiving a teleoperation message via a communication link from an autonomous vehicle, detecting data from the teleoperation message specifying an event associated with the autonomous vehicle, identifying one or more courses of action to perform responsive to detecting the data specifying the event, and generating visualization data to present information associated with the event to a display of a teleoperator computing device.

Abstract: Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous vehicles and associated mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware, computer software and systems, and wired and wireless network communications to provide an autonomous vehicle fleet as a service. In particular, a method may include identifying a location of a user device associated with a user, transmitting a command to an autonomous vehicle system associated with an autonomous vehicle service to transit to the location, and providing information associated with the user device to the autonomous vehicle system, where the information includes configuration data to adapt one or more sub-systems of the autonomous vehicle. Sub-systems of the autonomous vehicle may include interior lighting, ambient sound, road handling, seating configuration, communication synchronization, and temperature control systems.

Abstract: A system for detecting and/or mitigating the effects of an obstruction on a surface of a sensor may include a surface configured to receive the sensor, and comprising a sensor window configured to provide a path through which the sensor senses the environment. The system may also include a vibratory actuator configured to facilitate vibration of the sensor window and a heating element configured to heat the sensor window. The system may further include an obstruction detection system configured to detect an obstruction, such as moisture, and an obstruction mitigation controller configured to initiate activation of the vibratory actuator and/or the heating element to mitigate the obstruction. The obstruction detection system may be configured to receive a signal from one or more sensors and detect the obstruction based at least in part on the signal.

Abstract: Remote controlling of a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, may sometimes be more efficient and/or reliable. Such control, however, may require processes for ensuring safety of surrounding persons and objects. Aspects of this disclosure include using onboard sensors to detect objects in an environment and alter remote commands according to such objects, e.g. by reducing a maximum permitted velocity of the vehicle as a function of distance to detected objects. In some examples described herein, such remote controlling may be performed by using objects in the environment as control objects, with movements of the control objects resulting in movement of the vehicle.

Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods may be configured to implement actively-controlled light emission from a robotic vehicle. A light emitter(s) of the robotic vehicle may be configurable to indicate a direction of travel of the robotic vehicle and/or display information (e.g., a greeting, a notice, a message, a graphic, passenger/customer/client content, vehicle livery, customized livery) using one or more colors of emitted light (e.g., orange for a first direction and purple for a second direction), one or more sequences of emitted light (e.g., a moving image/graphic), or positions of light emitter(s) on the robotic vehicle (e.g., symmetrically positioned light emitters). The robotic vehicle may not have a front or a back (e.g., a trunk/a hood) and may be configured to travel bi-directionally, in a first direction or a second direction (e.g., opposite the first direction), with the direction of travel being indicated by one or more of the light emitters.

Abstract: Vehicle ride can be improved using perception based suspension control on a vehicle. A computing system on the vehicle may receive a map of a road surface. The computing system may identify a trajectory of the vehicle relative to the road surface, and determine if a deformation exists in a track of one of the vehicle tires. The deformation may include a depression and/or a raised portion from the road surface. The computing system may calculate an adjustment to make to one or more suspension system components to negate or minimize the effects of the vehicle traveling over the deformation or roughness of the road, and may send an instruction to adjust the suspension components accordingly. Additionally, or alternatively, the computing system may determine that the deformation may be avoidable, in whole or in part, and may cause the vehicle to maneuver around the deformation.

Abstract: An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. In the deployed state, the expandable curtain may include first and second sides configured to extend along respective portions of first and second interior sides of the vehicle. The expandable curtain may also include a transverse portion extending between the first and second sides, and the first and second sides, and the transverse portion of the expandable curtain may form a contiguous barrier. The expandable bladder when deployed may be supported by the expandable curtain during contact by an occupant. The occupant protection system may also include a deployment control system configured to cause the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to expand to the deployed state. The occupant protection system may be used in vehicles having a carriage-style seating arrangement.