US 11,995,991 B2
Shared control for vehicles travelling in formation
Tekin Alp Meriçli, Pittsburgh, PA (US); Venkataramanan Rajagopalan, Sewickley, PA (US); Michael David George, Pittsburgh, PA (US); Cetin Alp Meriçli, Pittsburgh, PA (US); Alonzo James Kelly, Edgeworth, PA (US); and Nezih Ergin Ozkucur, Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Assigned to Stack AV Co., Mount Pleasant, PA (US)
Filed by Stack AV Co., Mount Pleasant, PA (US)
Filed on Oct. 22, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/507,935.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/128,961, filed on Dec. 22, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0198936 A1, Jun. 23, 2022
Int. Cl. G08G 1/00 (2006.01); B60R 1/06 (2006.01); B60R 1/12 (2006.01); B60W 30/165 (2020.01); B60W 30/18 (2012.01); B60W 50/14 (2020.01); B60W 50/16 (2020.01); B62D 1/04 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 1/22 (2013.01) [B60R 1/06 (2013.01); B60R 1/12 (2013.01); B60W 30/165 (2013.01); B60W 30/18163 (2013.01); B60W 50/16 (2013.01); B62D 1/046 (2013.01); G05D 1/0291 (2013.01); B60R 2001/1215 (2013.01); B60W 2050/143 (2013.01); B60W 2050/146 (2013.01); B60W 2300/145 (2013.01); B60W 2556/65 (2020.02)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for collaborative control of a platoon of vehicles wherein a first vehicle is at least partially controllable by a human driver and a second vehicle is at least partially controllable by autonomy logic, comprising:
collecting information from human driver inputs on the first vehicle;
collecting information from sensors on both the first vehicle and the second vehicle;
sharing information thus collected between the first vehicle and the second vehicle to provide shared information;
each vehicle using the shared information to maintain a respective local copy of a shared world model, wherein maintaining the respective local copy of the shared world model comprises:
maintaining a local model, including by processing, by the first vehicle, at least a subset of the collected information from sensors on both the first vehicle and the second vehicle to derive perception information and situation information, wherein the derived perception information comprises one or more attributes of one or more sensed objects and wherein the derived situation information comprises information about one or more sensed events,
after deriving the derived perception information and the derived situation information, inputting the derived perception information and the derived situation information to a first local copy of the shared world model at the first vehicle,
receiving, by the second vehicle, the derived perception information and the derived situation information added to the first local copy of the shared world model, and
inputting the derived perception information and the derived situation information to a second local copy of the shared world model at the second vehicle;
collaboratively determining, by both the first and the second vehicle in direct vehicle to vehicle communication, to perform a proposed action based on the first and second local copies of the shared world model; and
in accordance with determining, by both the first and the second vehicle, to perform the proposed action, performing, by either or both the first and the second vehicle, the proposed action.