Patent ID: 11954411
Assignee: WAYMO LLC
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A method of using an artificial simulated environment to test an autonomous vehicle control software, the method comprising:
generating, using a computing device, an artificial simulated environment around an autonomous vehicle, wherein the artificial simulated environment includes representations of one or more simulated objects, the representations comprising surface retro-reflectivity characteristics of the one or more simulated objects, each of the one or more simulated objects associated with one or more materials, wherein the surface retro-reflectivity characteristics of an individual simulated object of the one or more simulated objects represent physical properties of the one or more materials associated with the individual simulated object;
generating a representation of the autonomous vehicle driving in the artificial simulated environment;
generating, based on the representations of the one or more simulated objects, simulated reflection data for a first location associated with the representation of the autonomous vehicle at a first instance of time relative to the one or more simulated objects;
causing the autonomous vehicle control software to determine a motion of the representation of the autonomous vehicle between the first location and a second location;
adjusting the simulated reflection data based on the determined motion of the representation of the autonomous vehicle between the first location and the second location associated with the representation of the autonomous vehicle at a second instance of time relative to the one or more simulated objects;
modifying the autonomous vehicle control software in view of the simulated reflection data, the determined motion of the representation of the autonomous vehicle, and the adjusted simulated reflection data; and
using the modified autonomous vehicle control software to control a motion of a physical autonomous vehicle.