BACKGROUND

Autonomous vehicles, such as vehicles that do not require a human driver, can be used to aid in the transport of trailered (e.g., towed) cargo, such as consumer goods, equipment, livestock or other items from one location to another. Such vehicles may operate in a fully autonomous mode or a partially autonomous mode where a person may provide some driving input. There may be situations where a cargo truck or other large vehicle is permitted to operate fully autonomously for part of a route, such as a freeway, but is not permitted to operate in that mode for another part of the route, such as surface streets near a warehouse or depot. In addition, once the vehicle arrives at the warehouse or depot, tight maneuvering may be required with limited sight lines. Many vehicles may not be equipped with sensors sufficient to enable them to reverse or otherwise maneuver into a warehouse dock or other parking location in an autonomous driving mode. In such situations, changing driving modes and potentially having to bring in a human driver could introduce significant logistical complexities for getting the cargo to its destination timely and effectively.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The technology relates to maneuvering self-driving cargo trucks and other vehicles from main thoroughfares (e.g., freeways) to warehouses, service centers, delivery locations and other facilities. One aspect involves situations where the vehicle is not cleared or otherwise permitted to operate fully autonomously on surface streets. Here, a truck may transition from purely autonomously driving (e.g., level 5 autonomy) to an autonomous “follow” mode, in which the truck drives behind a lead vehicle while performing mimicking or similar driving operations as the lead vehicle. Another aspect involves how the self-driving vehicle maneuvers and parks at a depot or other destination, without requiring the vehicle to have sensors installed on the trailer(s) or other parts of the vehicle. Both of these aspects are discussed in detail below.

According to one aspect of the technology, a method of performing a vehicle assist operation for an autonomous cargo vehicle is provided. The method comprises receiving sensor information from a perception system of the autonomous cargo vehicle; selecting a parking location for the autonomous cargo vehicle at a parking facility; receiving a live feed of imagery from one or more sensors of the parking facility; obtaining a roadgraph of the parking facility, the road graph providing a path for the autonomous cargo vehicle to arrive at the selected parking location; and using the roadgraph and live feed of imagery to assist a driving system of the autonomous cargo vehicle to drive to the selected parking location in an autonomous driving mode.

In one example the method further comprises generating an augmented trajectory based on the live feed of imagery, the augmented trajectory supplementing the roadgraph; and providing the augmented trajectory to the driving system in real time to enable the driving system to drive to the selected parking location in an autonomous driving mode.

In another example, the roadgraph includes a set of paths for backing the autonomous cargo vehicle into the selected parking location.

In a further example, the method also includes detecting an obstruction at the parking facility between the autonomous cargo vehicle and the selected parking location; and modifying the roadgraph with an augmented trajectory to avoid the obstruction.

In yet another example, the method further comprises performing a perception analysis on the live feed of images to detect one or more objects in an apron space of the parking facility. The perception analysis may include categorizing the detected one or more objects. In this case, the method may further include instructing the driving system of the autonomous cargo vehicle to take a corrective action in response to categorization of at least one of the detected objects. The corrective action may be either stopping or repositioning the autonomous cargo vehicle until the at least one categorized object has moved away from a given location at the parking facility.

In a further example, the parking facility is a warehouse, depot, service center or delivery location.

According to another aspect of the technology, a system is configured to perform a vehicle assist operation for an autonomous cargo vehicle. The system comprises memory storing a set of roadgraphs of a parking facility, and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. The one or more processors are configured to receive sensor information from a perception system of the autonomous cargo vehicle, select a parking location for the autonomous cargo vehicle at the parking facility, and receive a live feed of imagery from one or more sensors of the parking facility. The one or more processors are also configured to select one of the roadgraphs from the set of roadgraphs of the parking facility. The selected roadgraph provides a path for the autonomous cargo vehicle to arrive at the selected parking location. The one or more processors are further configured to use the selected roadgraph and live feed of imagery to assist a driving system of the autonomous cargo vehicle to drive to the selected parking location in an autonomous driving mode.

In one example, the one or more processors are further configured to generate an augmented trajectory based on the live feed of imagery. The augmented trajectory supplements the selected roadgraph. Here, the one or more processors also provide the augmented trajectory to the driving system in real time to enable the driving system to drive to the selected parking location in an autonomous driving mode.

In another example, the set of roadgraph includes a set of paths for backing the autonomous cargo vehicle into the selected parking location.

In a further example, the one or more processors are further configured to detect an obstruction at the parking facility between the autonomous cargo vehicle and the selected parking location, and modify the selected roadgraph with an augmented trajectory to avoid the obstruction.

In yet another example, the one or more processors are further configured to perform a perception analysis on the live feed of images to detect one or more objects in an apron space of the parking facility. Here, the perception analysis may include categorization of the detected one or more objects. In this case, the one or more processors may be further configured to instruct the driving system of the autonomous cargo vehicle to take a corrective action in response to categorization of at least one of the detected objects. The corrective action may include either stopping or repositioning the autonomous cargo vehicle until the at least one categorized object has moved away from a given location at the parking facility.

In a further example, the parking facility is a warehouse, depot, service center or delivery location. The system may also include the one or more sensors of the parking facility

And according to another aspects of the technology, a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium is provided having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a vehicle assist operation for an autonomous cargo vehicle. The vehicle assist operation includes: receiving sensor information from a perception system of the autonomous cargo vehicle; selecting a parking location for the autonomous cargo vehicle at a parking facility; receiving a live feed of imagery from one or more sensors of the parking facility; obtaining a roadgraph of the parking facility, the roadgraph providing a path for the autonomous cargo vehicle to arrive at the selected parking location; and using the roadgraph and live feed of imagery to assist a driving system of the autonomous cargo vehicle to drive to the selected parking location in an autonomous driving mode.

