A grounds maintenance system comprising: a robot tractor comprising; a robot body; a drive system including one or more motorized drive wheels to propel the robot body; a control system coupled to the drive system, the control system configurable to store a mow plan that specifies a set of paths to be traversed for a grounds maintenance operation and control the drive system to autonomously traverse the set of paths to implement the mow plan; a battery system comprising one or more batteries housed in the robot body; and a low-profile mowing deck coupled to the robot body, the mowing deck adapted to tilt and lift relative to the robot body, wherein the control system is configured to control tilting and lifting of the mowing deck and cutting by the mowing deck.

A path planning device configured to plan a traveling path on a future route of a vehicle includes a lane evaluation unit, a score accumulation unit, and a lane selection unit. The lane evaluation unit is configured to estimate a risk score of each chronological section of each traveling lane parallel traveling lanes, the risk score representing a traveling risk. The score accumulation unit is configured to accumulate the risk scores for each traveling lane. The lane selection unit is configured to select the traveling lane for the traveling path based on evaluation accumulated values. The lane evaluation unit is configured to estimate a base score based on static information. The static information contains a traveling difficulty for the vehicle at a change node. The lane evaluation unit is configured to estimate the base score such that the traveling risk is higher as the traveling difficulty is higher.

A moving object that travels from a current position toward a target position includes a first section candidate searching unit configured to search for a plurality of first section candidates in which the moving object is capable of traveling from the current position, a second section candidate searching unit configured to, for each ending point of the first section candidates, search for a plurality of second section candidates in which the moving object is capable of traveling from the ending points of the first section candidates, an obstacle position recognition unit configured to detect a position of an obstacle around the moving object, and a route decision unit configured to decide a first section and a second section used as a traveling route of the moving object from the plurality of first section candidates and the plurality of second section candidates.

A vehicle control device includes: a target traveling path setting unit that sets a target traveling path of an own vehicle; a reference position setting unit that sets a reference position of the own vehicle for specifying a position of the own vehicle with respect to the target traveling path; and a control unit that controls a steering assist amount of a steering wheel, based on a positional deviation being a deviation between the target traveling path set by the target traveling path setting unit and the reference position of the own vehicle set by the reference position setting unit. The reference position setting unit changes the reference position according to a vehicle speed.

A vehicle control device includes: a target traveling path setting unit that sets a target traveling path of an own vehicle; a reference position setting unit that sets a reference position of the own vehicle for specifying a position of the own vehicle with respect to the target traveling path; and a control unit that controls a steering assist amount of a steering wheel, based on a positional deviation being a deviation between the target traveling path set by the target traveling path setting unit and the reference position of the own vehicle set by the reference position setting unit. The reference position setting unit changes the reference position according to a vehicle speed.

Various technologies described herein pertain to controlling an autonomous vehicle to provide indicators to distinguish the autonomous vehicle from other autonomous vehicles in a fleet. The autonomous vehicle includes a vehicle propulsion system, a braking system, a notification system, and a computing system. The notification system outputs an indicator that is perceivable external to the autonomous vehicle. The computing system receives data specifying an identity of a passenger to be picked up by the autonomous vehicle. Moreover, the computing system controls at least one of the vehicle propulsion system or the braking system to stop the autonomous vehicle for passenger pickup. Further, the computing system controls the notification system to output the indicator; a characteristic of the indicator outputted by the notification system is controlled based on the identity of the passenger to be picked up and whether the autonomous vehicle is stopped for passenger pickup.

A control system and method for controlling a vehicle subsystem are provided. The control system includes a remote parameter sensor configured to generate a remote parameter signal indicative of a value of a universal parameter associated with an environment in which a vehicle is operating. The system further includes a local parameter sensor configured to generate a local parameter signal indicative of the value of the universal parameter and a local controller. The controller is configured to receive the local parameter signal along a first signal path, receive the remote parameter signal and a command signal configured for controlling a function of the vehicle subsystem along a second signal path, compare the local and remote parameter signals and implement the function of the vehicle subsystem responsive to the command signal if the remote parameter signal meets a predetermined condition relative to the local parameter signal.

A control system and method for controlling a vehicle subsystem are provided. The control system includes a remote parameter sensor configured to generate a remote parameter signal indicative of a value of a universal parameter associated with an environment in which a vehicle is operating. The system further includes a local parameter sensor configured to generate a local parameter signal indicative of the value of the universal parameter and a local controller. The controller is configured to receive the local parameter signal along a first signal path, receive the remote parameter signal and a command signal configured for controlling a function of the vehicle subsystem along a second signal path, compare the local and remote parameter signals and implement the function of the vehicle subsystem responsive to the command signal if the remote parameter signal meets a predetermined condition relative to the local parameter signal.

In one embodiment, a method, apparatus, and system for planning the trajectory of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) in view of an object within a buffer area in front of the ADV is disclosed. A buffer area in front of an ADV is identified. A first object of one or more objects that have entered the buffer area is identified. A first distance cost and a first relative speed cost associated with the first object are determined. A first object cost associated with the first object is determined based on a combination of the first distance cost and the first relative speed cost. A trajectory for the ADV is planned based at least in part on a cost function comprising the first object cost, where the cost function is minimized in the planning. Control signals are generated to drive the ADV based on the planned trajectory.

A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer includes a steering system that adjusts a vehicle steering angle, a braking system that adjusts a vehicle speed, an imaging system that receives image data of a drawbar assembly being receivable in a hitch receiver, and a controller. The controller is configured to detect an edge of the drawbar assembly from the image data, target an endpoint at a fixed offset from the edge and a stationary point on the vehicle, and maneuver, via the steering and braking systems, the vehicle along a path to align the endpoint with the trailer.