Patent ID: 8401782

Claim:
A method of assessing vehicle paths in a road environment including a host vehicle and a plurality of external objects present within a detection zone, the method including the steps of: determining a position, a velocity, and an acceleration of the host vehicle and a position, a velocity, and an acceleration of each of the external objects; generating a plurality of alternative paths that may be followed by the host vehicle in the future as it moves toward the external objects, each path comprising one or more path segments and the path segments including: at least one initial path segment corresponding to the host vehicle continuing along a route without consideration of the external objects, and a maneuver pair for at least one of the external object, each maneuver pair including a first path segment passing to the left of the respective external object and a second path segment passing to the right of the respective external object; and evaluating a cost associated with each of the paths, the cost based on a lateral acceleration experienced by the host vehicle in following the path.