Waymo LLC

Khawaja Waqee Khalid

Pablo Abad

Kang Li

David Garber

Tony Grue

Karan Rajen Parikh

Karen Rajen Parikh

Ross Anderson

Example embodiments relate to lane adjustment techniques for slow lead agents. A vehicle computing system may use sensor data depicting the surrounding environment to detect when another vehicle is traveling in front of the vehicle at a speed that is less than a threshold minimum speed. If the other vehicle fails to increase speed above the minimum speed, the computing system may determine whether to change lanes to avoid the other vehicle based on speed data for other lanes. In some implementations, the computing system assigns penalties to lane segments surrounding the vehicle based on speed data for the different lane segments. For instance, the path finding system for the vehicle can use penalties and speed data to determine efficient routes that safely circumvent slow agents.

Lane adjustment techniques for slow lead agents

A computer-implemented method is provided that involves determining, based on map data, an approaching merge region comprising an on-ramp merging with a road comprising one or more lanes, wherein a truck is traveling on an initial lane of the road according to a navigation plan. The method involves an indication of movement of a vehicle on the on-ramp, wherein the indication of movement is based on data collected by one or more sensors configured to capture sensor data from an environment surrounding the truck. The method involves determining, for the on-ramp and the one or more lanes, respective avoidance scores indicative of a likelihood of an interaction between the truck and the vehicle based on the approaching merge region. The method involves updating the navigation plan based on the respective avoidance scores. The method also involves controlling the truck to execute a driving strategy based on the updated navigation plan.

Systems and methods to determine a lane change strategy at a merge region

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Khawaja Waqee Khalid