US Patent 10338591 Methods for autonomously navigating across uncontrolled and controlled intersections

One variation of a method for autonomously navigating along a crosswalk includes: at a first time, navigating autonomously along a sidewalk toward a crosswalk coinciding with a navigation route assigned to the autonomous vehicle; recording optical data of a scene proximal the autonomous vehicle via an optical sensor integrated into the autonomous vehicle; aligning an anteroposterior axis of the autonomous vehicle to the crosswalk detected in the optical data; identifying a pedestrian proximal the crosswalk in the optical data; in response to the pedestrian entering the crosswalk at a second time succeeding the first time, predicting right of way of the autonomous vehicle to enter the crosswalk; and, in response to predicting right of the autonomous vehicle to enter the crosswalk, autonomously navigating from the sidewalk into the crosswalk and autonomously navigating along the crosswalk to an opposing sidewalk according to the navigation route.