US 11,740,624 B2
Advanced control system with multiple control paradigms
Bhaskar Ramamurthy, Los Altos, CA (US); Supun Samarasekera, Skillman, NJ (US); Thomas Low, Belmont, CA (US); Manish Kothari, San Carlos, CA (US); John Peter Marcotullio, Morgan Hill, CA (US); Jonathan Brookshire, Princeton, NJ (US); Tobenna Arodiogbu, San Francisco, CA (US); and Usman Ghani, Pacifica, CA (US)
Assigned to SRI INTERNATIONAL, Menlo Park, CA (US)
Appl. No. 16/639,216
Filed by SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 17, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/000280
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 14, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/035997, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 21, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/547,039, filed on Aug. 17, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0218253 A1, Jul. 9, 2020
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2006.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); G05B 17/02 (2006.01); G05D 1/10 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0022 (2013.01) [B60W 60/001 (2020.02); G05B 17/02 (2013.01); G05D 1/0088 (2013.01); G05D 1/101 (2013.01); G05D 2201/0216 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A hybrid control system comprising:
a control agent; and
a control engine comprising one or more processors, wherein the control engine is configured to:
install a master plan to the control agent, wherein the master plan comprises a plurality of high-level tasks,
wherein the plurality of high-level tasks includes at least one task for which the control agent is operating at least partially autonomously,
wherein the plurality of high-level tasks for the control agent includes at least one task for which the control agent is operating at least partially based on input from a tele-operator,
wherein the control agent is configured to operate according to the master plan to, for each high-level task of the high-level tasks, obtain or generate one or more low-level controls and to perform the one or more low-level controls to realize the high-level task,
wherein, to obtain or generate the one or more low-level controls, the control agent is configured to dynamically adjust, in real-time, the master plan for a high-level task of the one or more high-level tasks from the installed master plan based on an uncertainty of a scene comprising the control agent,
wherein, to dynamically adjust the master plan, the control agent is configured to dynamically adjust, based on the uncertainty of the scene, the high-level task of the one or more high-level tasks from operating at least partially autonomously to operating at least partially based on input from the tele-operator when at least one control of the low-level controls operating at least partially autonomously matches a control obtained based on input from the tele-operator, and
wherein the control agent is configured to operate according to the adjusted master plan to transition between the plurality of high-level tasks thereby causing a seamless transition between operating at least partially autonomously and operating at least partially based on input from the tele-operator, based at least on a context for the control agent, to operate at least partially autonomously and at least partially based on input from the tele-operator during execution of the adjusted master plan.