Waymo LLC

Zhuyuan Liu

Andreas Wendel

Michael R James

Daniel L Rosenband

Christopher Kennedy Ludwick

Christian Lauterbach

Etai Bruhis

Pieter Kapsenberg

Alexander Zbrozek

Ryan Joseph Andrade

Emily Chi

Axel Simon

The technology relates to partially redundant equipment architectures for vehicles able to operate in an autonomous driving mode. Aspects of the technology employ fallback configurations, such as two or more fallback sensor configurations that provide some minimum amount of field of view (FOV) around the vehicle. For instance, different sensor arrangements are logically associated with different operating domains of the vehicle. Fallback configurations for computing resources and/or power resources are also provided. Each fallback configuration may have different reasons for being triggered, and may result in different types of fallback modes of operation. Triggering conditions may relate, e.g., to a type of failure, fault or other reduction in component capability, the current driving mode, environmental conditions in the vicinity of vehicle or along a planned route, or other factors. Fallback modes may involve altering a previously planned trajectory, altering vehicle speed, and/or altering a destination of the vehicle.

Redundant hardware system for autonomous vehicles

Example embodiments relate to GNSS time synchronization in redundant systems. A redundant system configured with two subsystems may initially synchronize clocks from both subsystems to GNSS time from a GNSS receiver. The synchronization of the first subsystem's clock may involve using a first communication link that enables communication between the first subsystem and the GNSS receiver while the synchronization of the second subsystem's clock may involve using both the first communication link and a second communication link that enables communication between the subsystems. The redundant system may then synchronize the first subsystem's clock to the second subsystem's clock while the second subsystem's clock is still synchronized to GNSS time from the GNSS receiver based on timepulses traversing a pair of wires that connect the subsystems and the GNSS receiver.

GNSS time synchronization in redundant systems

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Los Altos, CA, United States of America

Zhuyuan Liu