Nvidia patents method for guessing where a self-driving car wants to go
Nvidia describes a system that uses data from sensors and maps to guess which road a driver intends to take. It assigns a probability score to different road segments at intersections and picks the most likely path to guide the vehicle's navigation.
In the filing’s own words
In various examples, probabilistic-based techniques may be used to predict intended paths of machines through an environment. For instance, various input data from perception systems, localization systems, mapping systems, and/or other sources of data may be used to determine occupant intent and compute scores associated with road segments in an environment. The scores may indicate a probability that certain road segments are part of the occupant's intended path for the machine, and the scores may be aggregated for each of the road segments across multiple instances of receiving an analyzing the input data. In some instances, a highest scoring road segment(s) may be selected as part of a predicted path of the machine. For instance, at a junction(s) where multiple road segments meet, the highest scoring road segment(s) may be selected as the predicted path.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: generating, based at least on input data indicative of occupant intent associated with an intended path of a machine in an environment, a probability distribution including at least: a first plurality of scores corresponding to a first plurality of road segments connected to a first junction, the first plurality of scores representative of first probabilities that the first plurality of road segments correspond to the intended path of the machine; and a second plurality of scores corresponding to a second plurality of road segments connected to a second junction, the second plurality of scores representative of second probabilities that the second plurality of road segments correspond to the intended path of the machine; determining, based at least on the first plurality of scores and the second plurality of scores, a predicted path of the machine that includes at least one of a first road segment of the first plurality of road segments or a second road segment of the second plurality of road segments; and performing, based at least on the predicted path, one or more planning or control operations to cause the machine to navigate within the environment.
Facts
- Company
- Nvidia (NVIDIA Corporation)
- Official title
- Path prediction
- Patent number
- US12735052B2
- Application number
- 18811368
- Filed
- Aug 21, 2024
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
B60W 50/0097 Operations & transportB60W 60/001 Operations & transportB60W 2520/14 Operations & transportB60W 2540/18 Operations & transportB60W 2552/53 Operations & transportMore from Nvidia in Cars & transport
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.