Waymo patents method to score driving by comparing normal vs. risky road user moves
This filing describes a way to evaluate how an autonomous vehicle drives by calculating where other cars or pedestrians could go under normal conditions versus more aggressive or erratic conditions. It then compares the safe driving space available to the vehicle in both scenarios to generate performance metrics.
In the filing’s own words
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for assessing driving behavior of an ego agent. In one aspect, a method comprises receiving data representing a state of a driving environment of the ego agent; computing a first plurality of reachable sets for one or more other road users in the driving environment using a normal set of movement parameters; computing a second plurality of reachable sets for the one or more other road users in the driving environment using an expanded set of movement parameters; computing a first drivable area for the ego agent based on the first plurality of reachable sets; computing a second drivable area for the ego agent based on the second plurality of reachable sets; and computing one or more driving metrics based on the first drivable area and the second drivable area computed for the ego agent.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A computer-implemented method for assessing driving behavior of an ego agent comprising: receiving data representing a state of a driving environment of the ego agent; computing a first plurality of reachable sets for one or more other road users in the driving environment using a normal set of movement parameters; computing a second plurality of reachable sets for the one or more other road users in the driving environment using an expanded set of movement parameters; computing a first drivable area for the ego agent based on the first plurality of reachable sets; computing a second drivable area for the ego agent based on the second plurality of reachable sets; and computing one or more driving metrics based on the first drivable area and the second drivable area computed for the ego agent.
Facts
- Company
- Google (Waymo LLC)
- Official title
- ASSESSING DRIVING BEHAVIOR FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
- Publication number
- US20260296502A1
- Application number
- 19092578
- Filed
- Mar 27, 2025
- Published
- Oct 1, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
B60W 60/00272 Operations & transportB60W 60/00274 Operations & transportB60W 2510/205 Operations & transportB60W 2520/10 Operations & transportB60W 2520/105 Operations & transportB60W 2520/14 Operations & transportMore from Google in Cars & transport
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- Waymo patents AI that predicts driving scenes from sensor data Oct 1, 2026
- Waymo patents method for self-driving cars to predict when they can see hidden hazards Sep 8, 2026
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.