Systems and methods for safety-enabled control

Abstract

Systems and methods for safety-enabled control. Input values provided to a control system can be validated. Command gating can be performed for control values provided by the control system. Validation of input values and command gating for control values can be performed in accordance with respective validation windows. Validation windows can be dynamically adjusted based on data received via a sensor or interface.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a control system circuit comprising a control value output electrically coupled to a control input of a safety system circuit;   the safety system circuit, comprising a safe control value output electrically coupled to a control interface;   the control interface; and   at least one wireless communication interface electrically coupled to a safety input of the safety system circuit.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the control interface is electrically coupled to a system under control, and wherein the safety system circuit is constructed to provide safe control values to the system under control via the control interface, and   wherein the system under control includes at least one of a motor and an actuator.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one wireless communication interface includes at least a first wireless interface and a second wireless interface. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the safety system circuit comprises:
 a command gate comprising the control input and the safe control value output; and   a safety sub-system comprising the safety input and a safety information output that is coupled to a first input of the command gate,   wherein the command gate is constructed to perform command gating for control values received via the control input to provide safe control values via the safe control value output, and wherein the command gate performs the command gating in accordance with safety information received via the first input of the command gate.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 ,
 wherein the control system comprises: a signaling output electrically coupled to a signaling input of the safety sub-system, and a control value output electrically coupled to the control input of the command gate,   wherein the safety-subsystem is constructed to generate the safety information based on information received via the signaling input.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the first wireless interface includes a first radio of a first type and the second wireless interface includes a second radio of a second type, wherein the first and second types are different types from a set of radio types that includes WiFi, LTE, Bluetooth, NFC, ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Metical), satellite, shortwave, UHF, VHF, and HF. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the safety system is constructed to generate safe control values based on data received via at least one of the first radio and the second radio. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the first radio is constructed to provide a first communication link to a remote control unit,   wherein the second radio is constructed to provide a second communication link to the remote control unit,   wherein the safety system is constructed to identify information related to the first and second communication links and generate safe control values based on the identified information related to the first and second communication links.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein for each of the first and second communication links, information related to the communication link comprises one or more of:
 link monitoring information;   metrics generated by using link monitoring information;   operator information for the link;   typical average message error rate;   typical average message latency;   data characteristics for data communicated using the communication link; and   characteristics of the radio used for the communication link.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the system and the system under control are included in an autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising: with a safety system circuit:
 receiving input values from a plurality of sensors;   determining input validation windows for each sensor;   for each sensor, generating validated input values for the input values received from the sensor, by using the associated input validation window;   providing the validated input values to a control system circuit;   receiving control values from the control system circuit;   determining at least one control value validation window;   validating control values received from the control system circuit, by using the at least one control value validation window; and   providing safe control values to a system under control.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein providing safe control values includes, identifying a control value as a safe control value during validation of the control value, and providing the identified safe control value to the system under control. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein providing safe control values includes, identifying a control value as an un-safe control value during validation of the control value, transforming the un-safe control value into a safe control value, and providing the transformed safe control value to the system under control. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , the method further comprising: with the safety system circuit, identifying a control value as an un-safe control value during validation of the control value, and discarding the un-safe control value. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising: with the control system circuit:
 generating control values by using the validated input values; and   providing the generated control values to the safety system circuit.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 ,
 wherein the plurality of sensors are included in an autonomous vehicle,   further comprising: with the safety system circuit: identifying an operating mode of the autonomous vehicle,   wherein determining input validation windows for each sensor comprises determining the input validation windows based on the identified operating mode, and   wherein determining the at least one control value validation window comprises determining the at least one control value validation window based on the identified operating mode.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein identifying an operating mode of the autonomous vehicle comprises:
 identifying information related to a first communication link and a second communication link between the safety system circuit and a remote control unit, and   identifying the operating mode of the autonomous vehicle based on the identified information related to the first and second communication links.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein for each of the first and second communication links, information related to the communication link comprises one or more of:
 link monitoring information;   metrics generated by using link monitoring information;   operator information for the link;   typical average message error rate;   typical average message latency;   data characteristics for data communicated using the communication link; and   characteristics of the radio used for the communication link.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 ,
 wherein at least one input validation window is a layered window,   wherein a different action is associated with each input validation window layer,   wherein at least one control validation window is a layered window, and   wherein a different action is associated with each control validation window layer.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 ,
 wherein the plurality of sensors are included in an autonomous vehicle, and   wherein determining an input validation window for a sensor comprises determining the input validation window based on a location of the sensor on the autonomous vehicle.