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Operation Mode#

Description#

As shown below, Autoware assumes that the vehicle interface has two modes, Autoware control and direct control. In direct control mode, the vehicle is operated using devices such as steering and pedals. If the vehicle does not support direct control mode, it is always treated as Autoware control mode. Autoware control mode has four operation modes.

Mode Description
Stop Keep the vehicle stopped.
Autonomous Autonomously control the vehicle.
Local Manually control the vehicle from nearby with some device such as a joystick.
Remote Manually control the vehicle from a web application on the cloud.

operation-mode-architecture

States#

Autoware control flag#

The flag is_autoware_control_enabled indicates if the vehicle is controlled by Autoware. The enable and disable APIs can be used if the control can be switched by software. These APIs will always fail if the vehicle does not support mode switching or is switched by hardware.

Operation mode and change flags#

The state operation_mode indicates what command is used when Autoware control is enabled. The flags change_to_* can be used to check if it is possible to transition to each mode.

Transition flag#

Since Autoware may not be able to guarantee safety, such as switching to autonomous mode during overspeed. There is the flag is_in_transition for this situation and it will be true when changing modes. The operator who changed the mode should ensure safety while this flag is true. The flag will be false when the mode change is complete.