US 11,656,629 B1
Detection of particulate matter in autonomous vehicle applications
Nicholas Armstrong-Crews, Mountain View, CA (US); and Arthur Safira, Los Altos, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 8, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/247,353.
Int. Cl. G01S 17/88 (2006.01); G05D 1/02 (2020.01); G01P 5/26 (2006.01); G01S 17/58 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0231 (2013.01) [G01P 5/26 (2013.01); G01S 17/58 (2013.01); G01S 17/88 (2013.01); G05D 1/0223 (2013.01); G05D 2201/0213 (2013.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
obtaining, by a sensing system of an autonomous vehicle (AV), a plurality of return points, each return point comprising one or more velocity values and one or more coordinates of a reflecting region that reflects a signal emitted by the sensing system;
identifying, in view of the one or more velocity values of each of a first set of the return points of the plurality of return points, that the first set of the return points is associated with a particulate matter in an environment of the AV; and
causing a driving path of the AV to be determined in view of the particulate matter.