Patent ID: 11860626
Assignee: WAYMO LLC
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A method comprising:
detecting, by a vehicle, a trigger, wherein detecting the trigger comprises determining that the vehicle is within a threshold distance to a target in an environment of the vehicle;
obtaining sensor data collected by a sensor of the vehicle after the detection of the trigger, wherein the sensor data is indicative of a scan of a region of the environment that includes the target;
detecting a change in a scanning characteristic of the sensor, wherein detecting the change in the scanning characteristic of the sensor comprises comparing the sensor data with previously-collected sensor data indicating detection of the target by one or more sensors other than the sensor of the vehicle during one or more previous scans of the environment; and
based on at least the detected change in the scanning characteristic of the sensor, transmitting a communication to an external computing system.