US 12,321,176 B2
Steering system fault response for autonomous vehicles
Justin Zaydel, Mountain View, CA (US); Nolan McPeek-Bechtold, Belmont, CA (US); and James Harris, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 14, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/993,868.
Prior Publication US 2022/0050463 A1, Feb. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. B62D 6/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0212 (2013.01) [B62D 6/00 (2013.01); G05D 1/0088 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
8. A system for controlling an autonomous vehicle without a driver, the system comprising
an autonomous driving control system including one or more processors configured to operate the autonomous vehicle autonomously without a driver; and
a steering system including one or more processors configured to:
receive a control command identifying a steering control position, the control command being generated by the autonomous driving control system,
control an orientation of one or more wheels of the autonomous vehicle according to the steering control position,
after receiving the control command, determine that the steering system has not received a valid control command generated by the autonomous driving control system for more than a first predetermined duration since the control command was received, the control command including a last valid steering control position, and
based on the determination that the steering system has not received a valid control command generated by the autonomous driving control system for more than the first predetermined duration, continue to control the orientation of the one or more wheels by maintaining the steering control position of the control command until a valid control command generated by the autonomous driving control system is received after the first predetermined duration and within a second predetermined duration.