US 12,337,869 B2
State estimation and response to active school vehicles in a self-driving system
John Russell Lepird, Pittsburgh, PA (US); Patrick Stirling Barone, Saratoga, CA (US); and Alexander Wah Tak Metz, Bavaria (DE)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Jul. 19, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/813,390.
Prior Publication US 2024/0025441 A1, Jan. 25, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B60W 30/09 (2012.01); B60W 40/04 (2006.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); G06N 7/01 (2023.01)
CPC B60W 60/0011 (2020.02) [B60W 30/09 (2013.01); B60W 40/04 (2013.01); G06N 7/01 (2023.01); B60W 2554/402 (2020.02); B60W 2554/404 (2020.02); B60W 2556/20 (2020.02)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of operating an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
by one or more sensors of an autonomous vehicle, capturing sensor data that includes information about an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is located; and
by a processor of the autonomous vehicle:
detecting a school transportation vehicle in the sensor data,
receiving a list of indicators associated with a set of candidate states for the school transportation vehicle, wherein the indicators include at least one of flashing yellow lights, and a pedestrian presence;
analyzing data from one or more sources to determine indicator values;
using the indicator values to compute a probability mass function, wherein the probability mass function comprises a likelihood that the school transportation vehicle is in each the candidate states in the set;
imposing one or more goals on a motion control system of the autonomous vehicle based on the probability mass function; and
causing the autonomous vehicle to operate according to the one or more goals.