Patent ID: 11958499
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 6:
7. A method comprising:
generating, by a first sensor system of a first vehicle, first sensor data comprising a current condition of a road, wherein the first sensor system comprises at least one of a camera, a radar device, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device, and an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, and wherein at least a portion of the first sensor data is autonomously generated by the camera, the radar device, the LIDAR device, and/or the IoT device in communication with the first vehicle;
providing, by the first vehicle, the first sensor data;
predicting a future functional condition of the road based on evaluating a current functional condition of the road, wherein evaluating the current functional condition of the road comprises evaluating the first sensor data in combination with crowd-sourced data comprising road-related information, the crowd-sourced data received from one or more other vehicles;
identifying, based on the current condition of the road and/or the future functional condition of the road, a first deterioration value for the road, the first deterioration value associated with at least one of one or more road markings, traffic signs, traffic signals, and/or infrastructure elements that support autonomous driving operations;
determining, based on the future functional condition of the road and the first deterioration value for the road, a level of support offered by the road for autonomous driving operations;
determining a second deterioration value associated with the first vehicle, wherein the second deterioration value provides an indication of an ability of the first vehicle to autonomously travel on any road;
comparing the first deterioration value and the second deterioration value;
determining that the first deterioration value is less than or equal to the second deterioration value;
determining first autonomous driving capabilities of the first vehicle with respect to the one or more road markings, traffic signs, traffic signals, and/or infrastructure elements that support autonomous driving operations, based at least in part on a maintenance condition of the first vehicle;
determining, based on the future functional condition of the road, the determination that the first deterioration value is less than or equal to the second deterioration value, and the first autonomous driving capabilities of the first vehicle, a viability of the first vehicle to travel on the road;
autonomously re-routing, by the first vehicle, the first vehicle based on the level of support offered by the road; and
recommending one or more repairs to address the first deterioration value and/or the second deterioration value.