Systems and methods for autonomous vehicle navigation

Abstract

Disclosed is a system for automatically navigating a vehicle, which system comprises: a data storage containing one or more maps of one or more areas; electronic interfaces for: (i) receiving data relating to the one or more areas from external data sources; (ii) receiving parameters relating to motion of the vehicle from physical sensors; and (iii) receiving a location of the vehicle from a positioning device; a navigation processor comprising processing circuitry adapted to determine an initial optimal route for traversing the vehicle from a given point in the one or more areas to another point in the one or more areas by computationally resolving a constrained minimization problem.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of driver driving ability evaluation with a computerized driving system, comprising:
 monitoring with road sensors, an environment of the vehicle and identifying road challenges in a path of the vehicle;   monitoring with driver sensors, driver reactions to the identified road challenges and determining reaction times of the driver reactions;   limiting with vehicle controls the maximum speed of the vehicle based on the monitored driver reactions and determined reaction times.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising evaluating driver awareness states at different times and recording the evaluations. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computerized driving system executes a driver model that suggests autonomous driving reactions to the road challenges observed by the road sensors. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the computerized driving system compares the suggested autonomous driving reactions to the driver reactions observed by the driver sensor and/or determined from use of the vehicle controls by the driver to determine an estimate of a competence level, awareness level, medical condition and pose of the driver. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the computerized driving system determines efficient and safe activation of airbags based on the driver pose estimation. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the computerized driving system takes control of the vehicle in critical situations. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the critical situations include when driver alertness and competence level will not allow the driver to respond to the road challenge. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the computerized driving system takes control when the computerized driving system is still able to successfully respond. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the computerized driving system evaluates smoothness and safety of vehicle navigation. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the medical condition is selected from the group consisting of cardiac arrest, stroke, loss of consciousness and other life endangering conditions affecting the drivers driving ability. 
     
     
         11 . A computerized driving system of driver driving ability evaluation, comprising:
 a road sensors configured to monitor an environment of the vehicle and identify road challenges in a path of the vehicle;   a driver sensor configured to monitor driver reactions to the identified road challenges and determine reaction times of the driver reactions;   vehicle controls configured to limit the maximum speed of the vehicle based on the monitored driver reactions and determined reaction times.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is configured to evaluate driver awareness states at different times and record the evaluations. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the computerized driving system is configured to execute a driver model that suggests autonomous driving reactions to the road challenges observed by the road sensors. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the computerized driving system is configured to compare the suggested autonomous driving reactions to the driver reactions observed by the driver sensor and determined from use of the vehicle controls by the driver to determine an estimate of a competence level, awareness level, medical condition and pose of the driver. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the computerized driving system is configured to determine efficient and safe activation of airbags based on the driver pose estimation. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the computerized driving system is configured to take control of the vehicle in critical situations. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the critical situations include when driver alertness and competence level will not allow the driver to respond to the road challenge. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the computerized driving system takes control when the computerized driving system is still able to successfully respond. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the computerized driving system is configured to evaluate smoothness and safety of vehicle navigation. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the medical condition is selected from the group consisting of cardiac arrest, stroke, loss of consciousness and other life endangering conditions affecting the drivers driving ability.