A method for controlling at least a first vehicle sensor includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more vehicle sensors that are configured to sense an environment through which the vehicle is moving, and identifying, based on the received sensor data, one or more current and/or predicted positions of one or more dynamic objects that are currently moving, or are capable of movement, within the environment. The method also includes causing, based on the current and/or predicted positions of the dynamic objects, an area of focus of the first sensor to be adjusted, at least by causing (i) a field of regard of the first sensor, and/or (ii) a spatial distribution of scan lines produced by the first sensor, to be adjusted.

A method for processing point clouds having variable spatial distributions of scan lines includes receiving a point cloud portion corresponding to an object in a vehicle environment, the point cloud portion including scan lines arranged according to a particular spatial distribution. The method also includes constructing a voxel grid corresponding to the received point cloud portion. The voxel grid includes a plurality of volumes in a stacked, three-dimensional arrangement, and constructing the voxel grid includes (i) determining an initial classification of the object, (ii) setting one or more parameters of the voxel grid based on the initial classification, and (iii) associating each volume of the plurality of volumes with an attribute specifying how many points, from the point cloud portion, fall within that volume. The method also includes generating, using the constructed voxel grid, signals descriptive of a current state of the environment through which the vehicle is moving.

A method for controlling a first sensor configured to sense an environment through which a vehicle is moving includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle as the vehicle moves through the environment, identifying, by one or more processors and based on at least a portion of the received sensor data, one or more road portions along which the vehicle is expected to travel, and determining, by one or more processors, a configuration of the identified road portions, at least in part by determining a slope of at least one of the identified road portions. The method also includes determining, by one or more processors analyzing at least the determined configuration, an elevation of a field of regard of the first sensor that satisfies one or more visibility criteria, and causing the first sensor to be adjusted in accordance with the determined elevation.

A method for controlling at least a first sensor of a vehicle, which senses an environment through which the vehicle is moving by producing a plurality of scan lines arranged according to a spatial distribution, includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors. The one or more sensors are configured to sense the environment through which the vehicle is moving. The method also includes identifying, by one or more processors and based on the received sensor data, one or more areas of interest in the environment, and causing, by one or more processors and based on the areas of interest, the spatial distribution of the plurality of scan lines produced by the first sensor to be adjusted.

A method for processing point clouds having variable spatial distributions of scan lines includes receiving a point cloud frame generated by a sensor configured to sense a vehicle environment. Each of the points in the frame has associated two-dimensional coordinates and an associated parameter value. The method also includes generating a normalized point cloud frame by adding interpolated points not present in the received frame, at least by, for each interpolated point, identifying one or more neighboring points having associated two-dimensional coordinates that are within a threshold distance of two-dimensional coordinates for the interpolated point, and calculating an estimated parameter value of the interpolated point using, for each of the identified neighboring points, a distance between the two-dimensional coordinates and the parameter value associated with the identified neighboring point. The method also includes generating, using the normalized point cloud frame, signals descriptive of a current state of the vehicle environment.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions executable by one or more processors to implement a sensor control architecture for controlling at least a first sensor of a vehicle. The sensor control architecture is configured to receive sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle. The one or more sensors are configured to sense an environment through which the vehicle is moving. The sensor control architecture is also configured to determine, based on the received sensor data and using an attention model that is trained using a machine learning technique, one or more sensor settings, and to cause one or more sensor parameters of the first sensor to be adjusted in accordance with the determined sensor settings. The one or more sensor parameters include at least one sensor parameter that defines an area of focus for the first sensor.

A method for processing point clouds having variable spatial distributions of scan lines includes receiving a point cloud frame generated by a sensor configured to sense an environment through which a vehicle is moving. The point cloud frame includes scan lines arranged according to a particular spatial distribution. The method also includes either generating an enhanced point cloud frame with a larger number of points than the received point cloud frame, or constructing, by one or more processors and based on points of the received point cloud frame, a three-dimensional mesh. The method also includes generating, by performing an interpolation function on the enhanced point cloud frame or a virtual surface provided by the three-dimensional mesh, a normalized point cloud frame, and generating, using the normalized point cloud frame, signals descriptive of a current state of the environment through which the vehicle is moving.

A system includes a speed sensor to detect a current speed, a camera to detect image data, and a GPS sensor to detect location data. The system also includes a memory to store a lookup table that maps efficient vehicle speeds to roadway speed limits. The system also includes an output device and an electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU determines a current speed limit of the current roadway and determines that the vehicle is within a steady speed range when the current speed of the vehicle fluctuates less than a predetermined speed threshold over a predetermined time period. The ECU also compares the current speed limit to the lookup table to determine at least one efficient vehicle speed that corresponds to the current speed limit and controls the output device to output the at least one efficient vehicle speed when the vehicle is within the steady speed range.

A hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a motor, a power storage device connected to the motor, and an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit executes power storage capacity decreasing control in a current trip and executes power storage capacity recovering control in a next trip when parking at a predetermined point is predicted. The electronic control unit limits execution of the power storage capacity decreasing control in the current trip when heavy-load traveling with a load heavier than a predetermined load is predicted to be performed within a predetermined period after the start of the next trip when the next trip is started at a predetermined point.

Vehicle control using map-based braking includes receiving, while a driver is operating the vehicle to traverse a vehicle transportation network, vehicle operation information including at least a current speed of the vehicle, retrieving, from a planned path of an in-vehicle navigation system, an upcoming turn in a current road when the driver is using the in-vehicle navigation system, and retrieving from map data, the upcoming turn in the current road when the driver is not using tin-vehicle navigation system. Thereafter, it is determined whether, during the upcoming turn, wheels of the vehicle will maintain contact with a road surface at the current speed. A braking instruction is issued to a control system of the vehicle responsive to whether the wheels of the vehicle will maintain contact with the road surface at the current speed.