Tusimple, Inc.

Peloton Technology, Inc.

Other

Charles A Price

Xiaoling Han

Zehua Huang

Todd B Skinner

Joshua P Switkes

Kun Zhang

Kaixin Zheng

Xiaodi Hou

Brian Eric Smartt

Ruiliang Zhang

Juexiao Ning

Qiwei Li

Yishi Liu

Robert Patrick Brown

Alan Camyre

Raymond Alan Thomas

Jim Giglio

Liu Liu

Yi Wang

James Thomas O'Keeffe

Stephen Michael Erlien

Austin Bennett Schuh

Yu-Ju Hsu

Zhujia Shi

Thomas J Birnbaum

Lindong Sun

Colleen Twitty

Frederic Rocha

Stanley Jacobson

Lucinda Grace Price

John Connelly Kegelman

Todd Christopher Klaus

Joseph Auciello

Panqu Wang

Pengfei Chen

Lingting Ge

Chenzhe Qian

Jeffrey J Renn

Lei Nie

Scott Douglas Foster

Dishi Li

Hunter Scott Willoughby

Xiangchen Zhao

Shuhan Yang

Jay Day

Weina Mao

Ganymed B Stanek

Brian Jeremy Silverman

Joshua Miguel Rodriguez

Chiyu Zhang

Systems and methods for coordinating and controlling vehicles, for example heavy trucks, to follow closely behind each other, or linking to form a platoon. In one aspect, on-board controllers in each vehicle interact with vehicular sensors to monitor and control, for example, relative distance, relative acceleration or deceleration, and speed. In some aspects, vehicle onboard systems supply various data (breadcrumbs) to a Network Operations Center (NOC), which in turn provides data (authorization data) to the vehicles to facilitate platooning. The NOC suggests vehicles for platooning based on, for example, travel forecasts and analysis of relevant roadways to identify platoonable roadway segments. The NOC also can provide traffic, roadway, weather, or system updates, as well as various instructions. In some aspects, a mesh network ensures improved communication among vehicles and with the NOC. In some aspects, a vehicle onboard system may provide the authorization data.

Devices, systems, and methods for remote authorization of vehicle platooning

A system installed in a vehicle includes a first group of sensing devices configured to allow a first level of autonomous operation of the vehicle; a second group of sensing devices configured to allow a second level of autonomous operation of the vehicle, the second group of sensing devices including primary sensing devices and backup sensing devices; a third group of sensing devices configured to allow the vehicle to perform a safe stop maneuver; and a control element communicatively coupled to the first group of sensing devices, the second group of sensing devices, and the third group of sensing devices. The control element is configured to: receive data from at least one of the first group, the second group, or the third group of sensing devices, and provide a control signal to a sensing device based on categorization information indicating a group to which the sensing device belongs.

Sensor layout techniques

The angle of a trailer with respect to a tow vehicle is an important parameter to the stability of the vehicle and trailer. A tow vehicle pulling a trailer in a straight line is generally more stable than when the vehicle is turning. While turning, the angle between the tow vehicle and the trailer is not a straight line but is another angle depending on how sharply the tow vehicle is turning. To safely operate a vehicle towing a trailer, for a given steering input and speed, there is a maximum angle between the tow vehicle and trailer whereby exceeding the angle causes instability and may cause the trailer or tow vehicle to roll over or jackknife. Accordingly, the angle between the trailer and tow vehicle must be determined to ensure the vehicle and trailer will continue to be in control.

Determining an angle between a tow vehicle and a trailer

Described are devices, systems and methods for managing power generation, storage and/or distribution in autonomous vehicles. In some aspects, a system for power management in an autonomous vehicle having a main power source and one or more alternators includes a vehicle control unit, a secondary power source, and a power management unit. In some embodiments, the power management unit is configured on an autonomous vehicle having a single alternator-charging system for battery charging and battery power control with different battery packs. In some embodiments, the power management unit is configured on an autonomous vehicle having multiple alternator-charging systems for battery charging and battery power control for different battery packs.

Battery power control in autonomous vehicles having alternator-charging systems

Described are devices, systems and methods for managing a supplemental brake control system in autonomous vehicles. In some aspects, a supplemental brake management system includes brake control hardware and software that operates with a sensing mechanism for determining the brake operational status and a control mechanism for activating the supplemental brake control in an autonomous vehicle, which can be implemented in addition to the vehicle's primary brake control system.

Supplemental braking control system in autonomous vehicles

Systems and methods for deploying emergency roadside signaling devices are disclosed. In one aspect, a control system for an object placing device of an autonomous vehicle includes a processor, and a computer-readable memory in communication with the processor and having stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to: receive a signal comprising instructions to activate the object placing device; and provide instructions to the object placing device to place a plurality of signaling devices in accordance with predetermined criteria.

Systems and methods for deploying emergency roadside signaling devices

Disclosed are distributed computing systems and methods for controlling multiple autonomous control modules and subsystems in an autonomous vehicle. In some aspects of the disclosed technology, a computing architecture for an autonomous vehicle includes distributing the complexity of autonomous vehicle operation, thereby avoiding the use of a single high-performance computing system and enabling off-the-shelf components to be use more readily and reducing system failure rates.

Distributed computing systems for autonomous vehicle operations

Techniques are described for transitioning control of a steering system from an autonomous mode in a vehicle to a driver-controlled mode where the driver can control the steering wheel of the steering system. A method includes receiving values that describe an amount of torque and a direction of torque in response to a torque applied to a steering wheel of a steering system operated in an autonomous mode, determining that the values are either greater than or equal to a threshold value or are less than or equal to a negative of the threshold value, determining that the values are measured over a period of time greater than or equal to a pre-determined amount of time, and transitioning the steering system from being operated in the autonomous mode to being operated in a driver-controlled mode in which the steering system is under manual control.

Transitioning steering control from an autonomous vehicle to a driver

Described are devices, systems and methods for real-time remote control of vehicles with high redundancy. In some embodiments, two copies of at least one control command are received using two different wireless communication protocols, and are compared. The at least one control command is executed when the two copies are in agreement, but is rejected when the two copies differ. In other embodiments, additional wireless communication protocols may exist to provide a redundant mode of communication when one of the two different wireless communication protocols are unavailable. In yet other embodiments, redundant GPS units may be used to determine availability of any of the communication protocols, and relevant control commands may be downloaded in advance to circumvent a lack of coverage.

Real-time remote control of vehicles with high redundancy

Techniques are described for determining weight distribution of a vehicle. A method of performing autonomous driving operation includes determining a vehicle weight distribution that values for each axle of the vehicle that describe weight or pressure applied on a respective axle. The values of the vehicle weight distribution are determined by removing at least one value that is outside a range of pre-determined values from a set of sensor values. The method further includes determining a driving-related operation of the vehicle weight distribution. For example, the driving-related operation may include determining a braking amount for each axle and/or determining a maximum steering angle to operate the vehicle. The method further includes controlling one or more subsystems in the vehicle via an instruction related to the driving-related operation. For example, transmitting the instruction to the one or more subsystems causes the vehicle to perform the driving-related operation.

Vehicle weight distribution determination

Systems and methods for deploying emergency roadside signaling devices are disclosed. In one aspect, system for an autonomous vehicle includes one or more signaling devices configured to visually notify other vehicles when placed on or near a roadway, and an object placing device configured to place the one or more signaling devices. The system further includes a processor and a computer-readable memory in communication with the processor and having stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to: determine that the autonomous vehicle has experienced a malfunction, and provide instructions to the object placing device to place the one or more signaling devices on or near the roadway.

The disclosed technology enables automated parking of an autonomous vehicle. An example method of performing automated parking for a vehicle comprises obtaining, from a plurality of global positioning system (GPS) devices located on or in an autonomous vehicle, a first set of location information that describes locations of multiple points on the autonomous vehicle, where the first set of location information are associated with a first position of the autonomous vehicle, determining, based on the first set of location information and a location of the parking area, a trajectory information that describes a trajectory for the autonomous vehicle to be driven from the first position of the autonomous vehicle to a parking area, and causing the autonomous vehicle to be driven along the trajectory to the parking area by causing operation of one or more devices located in the autonomous vehicle based on at least the trajectory information.

Automated parking technology

Disclosed are devices, systems and methods for using a rotating camera for vehicular operation. One example of a method for improving driving includes determining, by a processor in the vehicle, that a trigger has activated, orienting, based on the determining, a single rotating camera towards a direction of interest, and activating a recording functionality of the single rotating camera, where the vehicle comprises the single rotating camera and one or more fixed cameras, and where the single rotating camera provides a redundant functionality for, and consumes less power than, the one or more fixed cameras.

Vehicle-based rotating camera methods and systems

Growing community of inventors

Los Altos, CA, United States of America

Charles A Price