Patent ID: 9342074
Filing Date: 2016-05-17
CPC Classification: B60W,B62D,G05D

Claim Text:
1. A method comprising: operating, by a computing system, a vehicle in an autonomous mode, wherein a steering wheel is substantially disengaged from manual control of a steering system of the vehicle; receiving, by the computing system, an engage signal corresponding to at least a threshold change in torque applied to the steering wheel; determining a vehicle state upon receiving the engage signal, wherein the vehicle state includes an indication of a speed of the vehicle; based at least in part on the vehicle state, determining a transition period to transition the vehicle from the autonomous mode to a manual mode, wherein the determined transition period is a duration of time from when the computing system begins to decrease torque applied to the steering system by the autonomous control process to when the transition to a manual control of the steering system is complete; decreasing, over the transition period, torque applied to the steering system by an autonomous control process at a rate based on the speed of the vehicle; and by the end of the transition period, completing the transition from the autonomous mode to a manual mode by engaging the steering wheel to allow manual control the steering system and ceasing use of the autonomous control process.