NIO USA, INC.

Various embodiments relate to recording event data to identify and resolve anomalies associated with control of driverless vehicles. Some examples include computing vehicular drive parameters to facilitate driverless transit, monitoring control signals, detecting an event, triggering storage of event data, determining transmission control criteria, and transmitting the event data based on the transmission control criteria. Other examples include receiving event data via a communications network from an autonomous vehicle, identifying a computed vehicular drive parameter, extracting sensor data associated with the event, detecting application of control signals, analyzing the control signals, the sensor data, and the subset of computed vehicular drive parameters to identify a type of event, and generating update executable instructions responsive to the type of event.

Embodiments include a method for pre-conditioning a cabin of a vehicle, the method comprising: collecting, by a climate control system of the vehicle, a set of current conditions related to the vehicle; sending, by the climate control system of the vehicle, to a cloud-based climate control service, the collected set of current conditions related to the vehicle; receiving, by the climate control system of the vehicle from the cloud-based climate control service, a set of pre-conditioning instructions defining operation of the climate control system of the vehicle without input from a user of the vehicle and before the user enters the vehicle; and controlling, by the climate control system of the vehicle, a Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system of the vehicle based on the received pre-conditioning instructions.

A system for route guidance, the system comprising a driving controller, wherein the driving controller is configured to receive sensor output from at least one sensor, wherein, based on the received sensor output, the driving controller determines, for a common time interval, a first set of route actions and a second set of route actions; and a vehicle motion controller configured to receive, from the driving controller, the first set of route actions and the second set of route actions, and wherein, during the common time interval, the first set of route actions are executed when the vehicle is in a first state and the second set of route actions are executed when the vehicle is in a different second state.

A power supply device for a vehicle that includes two or more independent power sources, a simple low-power voltage monitor connected to a fast switch device, an electronic control unit (ECU), and a dedicated standby monitor element. Each power source has a separate path to connect to the load(s). That is to say, a primary path connects the primary power source to the one or more loads, and a backup path connects the backup power source to the one or more loads. Furthermore, each path includes a back-to-back blocking element, which prevents a direct connection between the primary power source and the backup power source. At standby, both or all paths are blocked except the standby monitor, ensuring extremely low quiescent current. When the system is ON, the voltage level of the power system is monitored; if the voltage level drops below a threshold level, then the paths are switched.

Systems and methods for controlling a vehicle are described. A processor of a longitudinal planning system determines a state of the vehicle. The processor determines a state of a leader vehicle. The processor, based on the determined state of the vehicle and the determined state of the leader vehicle, determines a critical distance for the vehicle. The processor compares a distance between the vehicle and the leader vehicle with the critical distance. The processor, based on the comparison, determines whether the vehicle is too close to or too far from the leader vehicle. The processor, based on the determination, applies one or more of overshoot constraints, undershoot constraints, and critical constraints. After applying the one or more of overshoot constraints, undershoot constraints, and critical constraints, the processor determines a target acceleration for the vehicle. The processor controls the vehicle to track the target acceleration for the vehicle.

Methods and systems include localization of a vehicle localize precisely and in near real-time. As described, localization of a vehicle using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can comprise receiving a signal from each of a plurality of satellites of a GNSS constellation and receiving input from one or more sensors of the vehicle. The input from the sensors can indicate current physical surroundings of the vehicle. A model of the current physical surrounding of the vehicle can be generated based on the input from the one or more sensors of the vehicle. One or more multipath signals received from the plurality of satellites can be mitigated based on the model and the vehicle can be localized using the received signals from the plurality of satellites of the GNSS constellation and based on the mitigation of the one or more multipath signals.

A measurement circuit device for a vehicle includes a power transistor and a voltage measurement circuit coupled to the power transistor that measures a voltage across the power transistor. The measurement circuit device also includes a microcontroller that determines a junction temperature using the measured voltage and adjusts a capacity of the power transistor based on the determined junction temperature. In some embodiments, the measurement circuit device may include a clamping device that clamps the voltage across the transistor when the transistor is off. The measurement circuit device may also include an analog-to-digital converter that converts the measured voltage from an analog value to a digital value.

At least one embodiment is directed to a system including a motor, a battery that provides power to the motor, and control circuitry that provides one or more first current pulses to the motor using power from the battery to cause one or more second current pulses in the battery that heat the battery to a desired temperature while maintaining zero torque in the motor.

Methods and systems are described that maintain and service electric vehicle battery packs and assemblies. The methods and systems automatically remove a used battery pack from an electric vehicle, replace the used battery pack with a charged battery pack, and service the removed used battery pack for subsequent vehicle installation. The servicing of the used battery pack includes removing a desiccant cartridge from the used battery pack and renewing a desiccant material associated with the desiccant cartridge. This desiccant material may be renewed by drying the desiccant cartridge using a heater. The used battery pack may be conveyed to a battery charger to charge the used battery pack to a predetermined charge level. The renewed, dry, desiccant cartridge may be attached to any battery pack and installed in an electric vehicle after the battery pack has been charged.

Embodiments include a method for pruning anchor points from a feature map generated from a Light Detections And Ranging (LiDAR) point cloud, the method comprising: receiving, by a navigation system, a LiDAR point cloud from a LiDAR sensor, the LiDAR point cloud comprising data representing one or more objects in physical surroundings detected by the LiDAR sensor; extracting, by the navigation system, a feature map from the LiDAR point cloud, the feature map comprising a plurality of anchor points, each anchor point defined by an anchor box; smoothing, by the navigation system, the extracted feature map; determining, by the navigation system, density of pixels within the anchor box of each anchor point; and pruning, by the navigation system, anchor points from the feature map based on a plurality of factors related to the determined density of pixels within the box of each anchor point.