On-site notification from autonomous vehicle for traffic safety

Abstract

A system included and a computer-implemented method performed in an autonomous-driving vehicle are described. The system performs: detecting one or more movable traffic objects; determining one or more target movable traffic objects from the one or more detected movable traffic objects; determining a type of the one or more target movable traffic objects and an traffic object that has a right of way (ROW) in a situation involving the autonomous-driving vehicle. The system further performs: determining a manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification to the target movable traffic object based on the type of the one or more target movable traffic objects and the ROW; and causing a vehicle behavior notification of the determined manner to be generated to the one or more target movable traffic objects.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for an autonomous-driving vehicle, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 determine, from prospective routes, a route based on geographic crime rates through the prospective routes; 
 from the determined route, detect one or more movable traffic objects; 
 determine a target movable traffic object from the one or more detected movable traffic objects; 
 determine a type of the target movable traffic object and whether or not the vehicle has a right-of-way (ROW) with respect to the target movable traffic object; 
 determine a manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification to the target movable traffic object based on the type of the target movable traffic object and the determination of whether the vehicle has the ROW; and 
 cause a vehicle behavior notification of the determined manner to be generated to the target movable traffic object. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
 in response to determining that the vehicle has the ROW, determine, based on a relative position and a current movement or action of the target movable traffic object, whether the vehicle can safely proceed in executing a particular action, wherein the vehicle behavior notification is based on whether the vehicle can safely proceed.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the type of the target movable traffic object comprises a pedestrian, a person on a human-powered vehicle, a motor vehicle driven by a human driver, or an animal. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification is based on a distance from the vehicle to the target movable traffic object. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle behavior notification comprises a light signal or an auditory signal. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the vehicle behavior notification comprises a light signal and the manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification comprises determining a particular light signal, color, flashing pattern, or brightness of the light signal. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 determine a second target movable traffic object that has at least a threshold likelihood of moving proximate to the route of the vehicle; and   determine a manner of generating a second vehicle behavior notification to the second target movable traffic object based on the type of the second target movable traffic object.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the route is further based on a number of intersection turns. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the target movable traffic object is based on a predicted path of the target movable traffic object, the predicted path being based on a status of surrounding traffic signals, a status of other vehicles, and a status of other pedestrians surrounding the target movable traffic object. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the target movable traffic object is based on a risk of an accident caused by the target movable traffic object. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method performed in a vehicle comprising:
 determining, from prospective routes, a route based on geographic crime rates through the prospective routes;   from the determined route, detecting one or more movable traffic objects;   determining a target movable traffic object from the one or more detected movable traffic objects;   determining a type of the target movable traffic object and whether or not the vehicle has a right-of-way (ROW) with respect to the target movable traffic object;   determining a manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification to the target movable traffic object based on the type of the target movable traffic object and the determination of whether the vehicle has the ROW; and   causing a vehicle behavior notification of the determined manner to be generated to the target movable traffic object.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the vehicle has the ROW, determining, based on a relative position and a current movement or action of the target movable traffic object, whether the vehicle can safely proceed in executing a particular action, wherein the vehicle behavior notification is based on whether the vehicle can safely proceed.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the type of the target movable traffic object comprises a pedestrian, a person on a human-powered vehicle, a motor vehicle driven by a human driver, or an animal. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the determination of the manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification is based on a distance from the vehicle to the target movable traffic object. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the vehicle behavior notification comprises a light signal or an auditory signal. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the vehicle behavior notification comprises a light signal and the manner of generating a vehicle behavior notification comprises determining a particular light signal, color, flashing pattern, or brightness of the light signal. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining a second target movable traffic object that has at least a threshold likelihood of moving proximate to the route of the vehicle; and   determining a manner of generating a second vehicle behavior notification to the second target movable traffic object based on the type of the second target movable traffic object.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the determination of the route is further based on a number of intersection turns. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the determination of the target movable traffic object is based on a predicted path of the target movable traffic object, the predicted path being based on a status of surrounding traffic signals, a status of other vehicles, and a status of other pedestrians surrounding the target movable traffic object. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the determination of the target movable traffic object is based on a risk of an accident caused by the target movable traffic object.