Coordinating Movements of Autonomous Vehicles for Autonomous Vehicle Relocation

Abstract

A method includes, by a central computing device, determining that a first autonomous vehicle at a first location is to relocate to a second location, wherein a pathway for the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location is blocked by one or more second autonomous vehicles, computing coordinated movements for multiple autonomous vehicles including the first autonomous vehicle and the one or more second autonomous vehicles, wherein the coordinated movements are computed to allow the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location and the coordinated movements include having the first autonomous vehicle wait until after at least one of the second autonomous vehicles performs its coordinated movements, and causing the multiple autonomous vehicles to execute the coordinated movements.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising, by a central computing device:
 determining that a first autonomous vehicle at a first location is to relocate to a second location, wherein a pathway for the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location is blocked by one or more second autonomous vehicles;   computing coordinated movements for a plurality of autonomous vehicles comprising the first autonomous vehicle and the one or more second autonomous vehicles, wherein:
 the coordinated movements are computed to allow the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location; and 
 the coordinated movements include having the first autonomous vehicle wait until after at least one of the second autonomous vehicles performs its coordinated movements; and 
   causing the plurality of autonomous vehicles to execute the coordinated movements.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the coordinated movements are computed to be executed sequentially by the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the coordinated movements for a particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is computed to be performed after a predetermined delay. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is the first autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the coordinated movements for a particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is computed to be performed after determining performance of a movement by another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is the first autonomous vehicle and the another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is one of the second autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein determining performance of the movement by the another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is based on one or more of:
 sensors or markers associated with one or more of the plurality of autonomous vehicles in an area; or   sensors or markers associated with the area.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the central computing device is external to the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the central computing device resides in one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         10 . One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by a central computing device to:
 determine that a first autonomous vehicle at a first location is to relocate to a second location, wherein a pathway for the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location is blocked by one or more second autonomous vehicles;   compute coordinated movements for a plurality of autonomous vehicles comprising the first autonomous vehicle and the one or more second autonomous vehicles, wherein:
 the coordinated movements are computed to allow the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location; and 
 the coordinated movements include having the first autonomous vehicle wait until after at least one of the second autonomous vehicles performs its coordinated movements; and 
   cause the plurality of autonomous vehicles to execute the coordinated movements.   
     
     
         11 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 10 , wherein the coordinated movements are computed to be executed sequentially by the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         12 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the coordinated movements for a particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is computed to be performed after a predetermined delay. 
     
     
         13 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 12 , wherein the particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is the first autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the coordinated movements for a particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is computed to be performed after determining performance of a movement by another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 14 , wherein the particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is the first autonomous vehicle and the another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is one of the second autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         16 . A system comprising: one or more processors of a central computing device and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media coupled to one or more of the processors, the one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising instructions operable when executed by one or more of the processors to cause the system to:
 determine that a first autonomous vehicle at a first location is to relocate to a second location, wherein a pathway for the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location is blocked by one or more second autonomous vehicles;   compute coordinated movements for a plurality of autonomous vehicles comprising the first autonomous vehicle and the one or more second autonomous vehicles, wherein:
 the coordinated movements are computed to allow the first autonomous vehicle to reach the second location; and 
 the coordinated movements include having the first autonomous vehicle wait until after at least one of the second autonomous vehicles performs its coordinated movements; and 
   cause the plurality of autonomous vehicles to execute the coordinated movements.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the coordinated movements for a particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is computed to be performed after a predetermined delay. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is the first autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the coordinated movements for a particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is computed to be performed after determining performance of a movement by another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the particular one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is the first autonomous vehicle and the another one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is one of the second autonomous vehicles.