Patent ID: 11927955
Assignee: WAYMO LLC
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A vehicle configured to operate in a fully autonomous driving mode and a partially autonomous driving mode, the vehicle comprising:
a driving system including a steering subsystem, an acceleration subsystem and a deceleration subsystem to control driving of the vehicle;
a perception system including one or more sensors configured to detect objects in an environment external to the vehicle;
a communication system configured to provide wireless connectivity with one or more remote devices; and
a control system including one or more processors, the control system operatively coupled to the driving system, the communication system and the perception system, the control system being configured to:
control the driving system based on first information received from the perception system to maneuver the vehicle in the fully autonomous driving mode along a route towards a destination;
in response to a signal received by the vehicle from a remote device while in the fully autonomous driving mode, enter a search-for-leader mode that is set to expire after a selected amount of time;
while in the search-for-leader mode, identify a lead vehicle to follow, wherein the lead vehicle is traveling along the route;
authenticate the identified lead vehicle; and
upon authentication, perform a following operation towards the destination by controlling the driving system in the partially autonomous mode in accordance with trajectory information received from the lead vehicle and second information received from the perception system.