US 12,066,836 B2
Detecting general road weather conditions
David Harrison Silver, San Carlos, CA (US); Jens-Steffen Ralf Gutmann, Cupertino, CA (US); and Michael James, Northville, MI (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Apr. 7, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/131,966.
Application 18/131,966 is a continuation of application No. 17/079,693, filed on Oct. 26, 2020, granted, now 11,650,603.
Application 17/079,693 is a continuation of application No. 16/217,235, filed on Dec. 12, 2018, granted, now 10,852,746.
Prior Publication US 2023/0315122 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2024.01); B60W 10/04 (2006.01); B60W 10/18 (2012.01); B60W 10/20 (2006.01); B60W 30/02 (2012.01); G01S 13/95 (2006.01); G01S 15/88 (2006.01); G01S 17/95 (2006.01); G01W 1/02 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0291 (2013.01) [B60W 10/04 (2013.01); B60W 10/18 (2013.01); B60W 10/20 (2013.01); B60W 30/02 (2013.01); G01S 13/95 (2013.01); G01S 15/885 (2013.01); G01S 17/95 (2013.01); G01W 1/02 (2013.01); G05D 1/0214 (2013.01); B60W 2300/12 (2013.01); B60W 2300/145 (2013.01); B60W 2420/403 (2013.01); B60W 2420/408 (2024.01); B60W 2420/54 (2013.01); B60W 2552/00 (2020.02); B60W 2555/20 (2020.02); B60W 2710/18 (2013.01); B60W 2710/20 (2013.01); B60W 2720/106 (2013.01); G01W 2203/00 (2013.01); G05D 1/0088 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
determining, by one or more processors associated with a vehicle operating in an autonomous driving mode, that it is safe to perform a testing operation along a portion of a roadway to determine a road weather condition;
causing, by the one or more processors upon determining that it is safe to perform the testing operation, a subsystem of the vehicle to actuate one or more components of the subsystem during operation in the autonomous driving mode according to the testing operation;
comparing, by the one or more processors, actual vehicle information about the vehicle along the portion of the roadway during actuation of the one or more components with expected information about the vehicle along the portion of the roadway;
determining, by the one or more processors, that the road weather condition is a wet condition, an icy condition, or a snowy condition along the roadway based on the comparing the actual vehicle information with the expected vehicle information; and
in response to the determining based on the comparing, the one or more processors causing the vehicle to take a selected action according to whether the road weather condition is the wet condition, the icy condition, or the snowy condition.