Patent ID: 11880200
Assignee: WAYMO LLC
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 19:
20. A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous driving mode, comprising:
a front section having a front bumper and a front windshield;
a rear section having a rear bumper and a rear window;
a driving system including:
a deceleration system configured to control braking of the vehicle;
an acceleration system configured to control acceleration of the vehicle; and
a steering system configured to control wheel orientation and a direction of the vehicle;

a first external sensing module disposed between the front bumper and the front windshield, the first external sensing module comprising:
a first cover configured to be affixed along the front section of the vehicle;
a first lidar sensor engaged with the cover along a first section thereof, the first lidar sensor being configured to detect objects in a first region of an external environment around the vehicle and within a threshold distance of the vehicle; and
a first image sensor engaged with the first cover along a second section thereof, the first image sensor having a selected resolution that enables classification of a first object detected by the first external sensing module within the threshold distance of the vehicle as a selected shape based on a minimum number of pixels; and

a second external sensing module disposed between the rear bumper and the rear window, the second external sensing module comprising:
a second cover configured to be affixed along the rear section of the vehicle;
a second lidar sensor engaged with the second cover along a first section thereof, the second lidar sensor being configured to detect objects in a second region of the external environment around the vehicle and within the threshold distance of the vehicle; and
a second image sensor engaged with the second cover along a second section thereof, the second image sensor having the selected resolution that enables classification of a second object detected by the second external sensing module within the threshold distance of the vehicle as the selected shape based on the minimum number of pixels.