System and method for situational behavior of an autonomous vehicle

Abstract

Systems and methods for situational behavior of an autonomous vehicle are disclosed. In one aspect, an autonomous vehicle includes at least one perception sensor configured to generate perception data indicative of at least one other vehicle on a roadway, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a processor. The processor is configured to determine that the other vehicle is violating one or more rules of the roadway based on the perception data, tag the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver, and modify control of the autonomous vehicle in response to tagging the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An autonomous vehicle configured to drive on a roadway, comprising:
 at least one perception sensor configured to generate perception data indicative of at least one other vehicle on the roadway;   a processor; and   a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 determine that the other vehicle is violating one or more rules of the roadway based on the perception data, 
 tag the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver, and 
 modify control of the autonomous vehicle in response to tagging the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver. 
   
     
     
         2 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that the other vehicle is in a lane adjacent to that of the autonomous vehicle;   determine that a portion of the other vehicle has crossed a lane boundary on a side closest to the autonomous vehicle;   in response to determining that the other vehicle is in the lane adjacent to that of the autonomous vehicle and that the portion of the other vehicle has crossed the lane boundary on the side closest to the autonomous vehicle, tag the other vehicle as a lane crossing non-compliant driver; and   monitor the lane crossing non-compliant driver for a potential cut into the autonomous vehicle's lane.   
     
     
         3 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that the other vehicle is an erratic non-compliant driver in response to determining that the other vehicle has broken traffic laws in one or more of the following ways: the other vehicle is driving the wrong way, opposite to a flow of traffic, the other vehicle is driving outside of drivable lanes or on a gore area, and/or the other vehicle has cut across multiple lanes of traffic without utilizing a turn signal.   
     
     
         4 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to maintain the non-compliant driver tag on the other vehicle for a predetermined length of time. 
     
     
         5 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the autonomous vehicle to minimize an amount of time that the autonomous vehicle drives and/or remains parallel to the other vehicle tagged as the non-compliant driver. 
     
     
         6 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that the other vehicle is a speeding non-compliant driver in response to the other vehicle moving at a predetermined speed above a speed limit; and   in response to determining that the other vehicle is a speeding non-compliant driver, cause the autonomous vehicle to avoid lane changing into a lane of the other vehicle until the other vehicle has passed the autonomous vehicle.   
     
     
         7 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that the other vehicle is an oscillating non-compliant driver in response to detecting that the other vehicle is swerving between both of its lane lines; and   in response to determining that the other vehicle is an oscillating non-compliant driver, cause the autonomous vehicle to avoid driving in a lane adjacent to the other vehicle.   
     
     
         8 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that the other vehicle is an intersection non-compliant driver in response to detecting that the other vehicle has proceeded into an intersection when the other vehicle does not have a right-of-way; and   in response to determining that the other vehicle is an intersection non-compliant driver, cause the autonomous vehicle to yield a right-of-way to the other driver.   
     
     
         9 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the autonomous vehicle to avoid changing lanes towards the tagged non-compliant driver unless changing lanes is required to continue on a route of the autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 determine that another vehicle is violating one or more rules of a roadway based on perception data received from one or more sensors of an autonomous vehicle;   tag the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver; and   modify control of the autonomous vehicle in response to tagging the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 determine whether there is a potential for an accident between the autonomous vehicle and the other vehicle; and   in response to determining that there is the potential for an accident between the autonomous vehicle and the other vehicle, determine an evasive maneuver by the autonomous vehicle to avoid or minimize any damage to the autonomous vehicle and other entities on or near the roadway.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 determine whether the potential for the accident is an emergency scenario in which the accident is imminent; and   cause the autonomous vehicle to execute the evasive maneuver in response to determining that the potential for the accident is the emergency scenario.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 calculate that a critical distance between the autonomous vehicle and the other vehicle cannot be maintained even using a threshold deceleration; and   determine that the accident is imminent in response to calculating that the critical distance between the autonomous vehicle and the other vehicle cannot be maintained even using the threshold deceleration.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to cause the autonomous vehicle to stay within its lane when executing an evasive maneuver unless evasive braking alone is not enough to prevent a collision. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 determine that a previously obstructed vehicle has been revealed due to the other vehicle being removed as a source of obstruction, and   in response to determining that the previously obstructed vehicle is now unobstructed, cause the autonomous vehicle to brake up to a maximum amount of braking within safety limits to maintain a critical distance between the autonomous vehicle and the previously obstructed vehicle.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 determine that the other vehicle, in front of and in a same lane as the autonomous vehicle, has suddenly applied its brakes with a deceleration of greater than a predetermined amount of deceleration; and   in response to determining that that the other vehicle has suddenly applied its brakes, cause the autonomous vehicle to brake up to a maximum amount of braking within safety limits.   
     
     
         17 . A method comprising:
 determining that another vehicle is violating one or more rules of a roadway based on perception data received from one or more sensors of an autonomous vehicle;   tagging the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver; and   modifying control of the autonomous vehicle in response to tagging the other vehicle as a non-compliant driver.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 detecting that the autonomous vehicle has been involved in an accident;   determining a severity of the accident; and   based on detecting that the autonomous vehicle has been involved in an accident and the determined severity, determine a course of action to minimize any further damage to the autonomous vehicle and/or any other entities on or near the roadway.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein detecting that the autonomous vehicle has been involved in an accident is based on information received from one or more inertial sensors, one or more cameras, and/or one or more lidars of the autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 determining that the severity of the accident is severe in response to a detected deceleration being greater than a threshold deceleration and/or determining that an object the autonomous vehicle has collided with is a pedestrian, a cyclist, a motorcycle, and/or another vulnerable road user.