Passenger tracking systems and methods

• US 10,095,229 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2016
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Myers, Scott Vincent, Narayanan, Praveen, Banvait, Harpreetsingh, Crawford, Mark, Gurghian, Alexandru Mihai, Silver, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Mawari, Redhwan K
• Assistant Examiner(s): Torchinsky, Edward
• Application Number:
  US15/264,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20180074495A1
• Time in Patent Office: 756 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/06 responsive to incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0095 Automatic control mode change
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/54 Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/01 Occupants other than the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/049 Number of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/21 Voice
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/221 Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/223 Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/24 Drug level, e.g. alcohol
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0013 specially adapted for occupant comfort
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00253 Taxi operations
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/54 Electrical circuits for locking several wings simultaneously E05B77/48
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9323 Alternative operation using light waves
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0066 for limitation of acceleration or stress
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 : Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 : exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/59 : inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/174 : Facial expression recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/20 : Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 : Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

Example passenger validation systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a method receives, at a vehicle, a transport request indicating a passenger and a pick-up location. The vehicle drives to the pick-up location and authenticates the passenger at the pick-up location. If the passenger is successfully authenticated, the method unlocks the vehicle doors to allow access to the vehicle, determines a number of people entering the vehicle, and confirms that the number of people entering the vehicle matches a number of passengers associated with the transport request.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a vehicle control system, a transport request at a vehicle, the transport request indicating a passenger and a pick-up location;

driving, by the vehicle control system, to the pick-up location;

receiving, by the vehicle control system, images from a side-facing camera mounted to the vehicle;

determining, by the vehicle control system, whether the passenger is impaired while the passenger is outside of the vehicle by evaluating whether the images indicate that the passenger has an irregular walking pattern; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is impaired, refraining, by the vehicle control system, from unlocking the vehicle doors.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the passenger is impaired prior to unlocking the vehicle doors.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating at least one person at the pick-up location; and

responsive to successfully authenticating the person, unlocking vehicle doors to allow access to the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the passenger is non-responsive; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is non-responsive, driving the passenger to a hospital.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining that the passenger is non-responsive includes querying the passenger via a voice command.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the passenger is going to be sick; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is going to be sick, driving the vehicle to the side of the road and unlocking the vehicle doors.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the passenger is impaired includes analyzing the passenger'"'"'s face to detect signs of impairment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the passenger is impaired includes analyzing the passenger'"'"'s body movement to detect signs of impairment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the passenger is impaired includes analyzing the passenger'"'"'s speech characteristics to detect signs of impairment.

11. A method comprising:

receiving, by a vehicle control system of a vehicle, a transport request at a vehicle, the transport request indicating a passenger, a pick-up location, and a destination;

driving, by the vehicle control system, to the pick-up location;

receiving, by the vehicle control system, images from a side-facing camera mounted to the vehicle;

determining, by the vehicle control system, whether the passenger is impaired while the passenger is outside of the vehicle by evaluating whether the images indicate that the passenger has an irregular walking pattern;

responsive to determining that the passenger is not impaired;

unlocking the vehicle doors and allowing the passenger to access the vehicle;

as the vehicle drives to the destination, monitoring the passenger to determine whether the passenger is sick or impaired; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is sick or impaired, changing the vehicle'"'"'s driving characteristics to avoid sudden stops and sharp turns.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

authenticating at least one person at the pick-up location prior to determining whether the passenger is impaired; and

responsive to successfully authenticating the person, continuing with determining whether the passenger is impaired.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining whether the passenger is non-responsive; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is non-responsive, driving the passenger to a hospital.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining that the passenger is non-responsive includes querying the passenger via a voice command.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining whether the passenger is going to be sick; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is going to be sick, driving the vehicle to the side of the road and unlocking the vehicle doors.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the passenger is impaired includes analyzing the passenger'"'"'s face to detect signs of impairment.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the passenger is impaired includes analyzing the passenger'"'"'s body movement to detect signs of impairment.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the passenger is impaired includes analyzing the passenger'"'"'s speech characteristics to detect signs of impairment.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a communication manager configured to receive a first transport request indicating a passenger, a pick-up location, and a destination;

an automated driving system configured to drive a vehicle to the pick-up location and the destination;

a vehicle access manager configured to;

receive images from a side-facing camera mounted to the vehicle;

determine whether the passenger is impaired while the passenger is outside of the vehicle by evaluating whether the images indicate that the passenger has an irregular walking pattern; and

when the passenger is determined to be impaired, refraining from unlocking the vehicle doors

when the passenger is not determined to be impaired unlock the vehicle doors and allow the passenger to access the vehicle.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the passenger analysis module is further configured to:

determine whether the passenger is non-responsive; and

responsive to determining that the passenger is non-responsive, instruct the automated driving system to drive the vehicle to a hospital.