Waymo LLC

Google Inc.

Andrew Schultz

Daniel Trawick Egnor

Ryan Cash

Ethan Stark

Dmitri A Dolgov

Christopher Paul Urmson

Alexander Zbrozek

Aspects of the disclosure relate to controlling a transition between a manual driving mode and an autonomous driving mode of a vehicle. For instance, one or more processors of one or more control computing devices may control the vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. While controlling the vehicle in the autonomous driving mode and decelerating at a given rate, the processors may receive at a user input of the vehicle input requesting a transition from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode. In response to the input, the processors may transition the vehicle to the manual driving mode. After transitioning the vehicle to the manual driving mode, the processors may send deceleration signals to a deceleration actuator thereby causing the vehicle to continue to decelerate at the given rate.

Driver transition assistance for transitioning to manual control for vehicles with autonomous driving modes

Methods and systems for adaptive methods for transitioning control to the driver are described. A computing device controlling a vehicle autonomously may be configured to receive a request for a transition of the vehicle from autonomous mode to manual mode through an indication by the driver. The computing device may determine the state of the vehicle based on parameters related to the autonomous operation of the vehicle. Based on the state of the vehicle and the indication, the computing device may determine instructions corresponding to the transition of control, which may include a strategy for the transition and duration of time corresponding to the transition of control. The computing device may provide the instructions to perform the transition of control of the vehicle from autonomous mode to manual mode.

Systems and methods for transitioning control of an autonomous vehicle to a driver

Methods and systems for compensating for common failures in fail operational systems are described herein. An example system may include a primary controller configured to perform functions of a vehicle such as propulsion, braking and steering and a secondary controller configured in a redundant configuration with the primary controller. The controllers may perform cross-checks of each other and may each perform internal self-checks as well. Additionally, the system may include a control module configured to transfer control of the vehicle between the controllers based on detecting a fault. The control module may detect a common fault of the controllers that causes the control module to output a common fault signal. In response, the system may transfer of control to a safety controller configured to perform the vehicle functions until the system may transfer control back to the primary controller.

Methods and systems for compensating for common failures in fail operational systems

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Piedmont, CA, United States of America

Andrew Schultz