US 11,989,019 B1
Systems and methods for detecting and transmitting driving condition information related to an autonomous vehicle
Pooja Krishnaswamy, Cedar Park, TX (US); Victor Kwak, Frisco, TX (US); Huihui Wu, Plano, TX (US); Justin Nash, Little Elm, TX (US); Michael Lebowitz, McKinney, TX (US); and William Daniel Farmer, Carrollton, TX (US)
Assigned to United Services Automobile Association (USAA), San Antonio, TX (US)
Filed by United Services Automobile Association (USAA), San Antonio, TX (US)
Filed on Sep. 30, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/039,413.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/908,184, filed on Sep. 30, 2019.
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G01W 1/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/02 (2020.01)
CPC G05D 1/0088 (2013.01) [G01W 1/00 (2013.01); G05D 1/0257 (2013.01); G05D 1/028 (2013.01); G05D 1/0285 (2013.01); G05D 2201/0213 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
a camera configured to generate vehicle sensor information indicative of one or more first driving conditions;
a communication interface configured to communicatively couple with a vehicle bus of the autonomous vehicle and a driving condition database via a communication network, wherein the vehicle bus is configured to receive the vehicle sensor information and mobile device sensor information indicative of one or more second driving conditions from one or more mobile devices, and wherein the driving condition database is configured to store the vehicle sensor information and the mobile device sensor information; and
a controller comprising one or more processors and one or more memory devices, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in the one or more memory devices to cause the one or more processors to:
determine that the one or more first driving conditions comprise shaking of a surface based on vertical movement, horizontal movement, or both, of one or more objects in an environment of the autonomous vehicle based on the vehicle sensor information;
determine a signal strength, a signal-to-noise ratio (“SNR”), or both, of a connection between the communication interface and the communication network;
in response to determining that the signal strength is below a threshold signal strength, the SNR is below a threshold SNR, or both, store the vehicle sensor information and the mobile device sensor information in a storage device of the autonomous vehicle for subsequent communication by the communication interface to the driving condition database; and
operate the autonomous vehicle based on the vehicle sensor information and the mobile device sensor information.