Transport vehicle configuration for impaired riders

• US 10,255,816 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2016
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Bartel, Emily
• Primary Examiner(s): McPherson, James M
• Application Number:
  US15/139,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20170316696A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/06 responsive to incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/00 Input parameters relating to occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/221 Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0098 Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

A system can accommodate riders of a transportation arrangement service that have certain physical impairments, such as visual, hearing, or movement impairments. In certain aspects, a transportation facilitation system can create rider profiles that specify a particular impairment, and vehicle profiles indicating accommodation features. The transport facilitation system can receive a pick-up request, utilize the rider profile and vehicle profiles of vehicle proximate to a pick-up location, select a vehicle to service the pick-up request, and generate a configuration set to configure the selected vehicle to accommodate the impaired user.

Claims

1. A self-driving vehicle (SDV) comprising:

a sensor system to detect a physical environment of the SDV;

a plurality of configurable components;

acceleration, braking, and steering systems;

a control system to execute an instruction set that causes the control system to;

process sensor data from the sensor system to operate the acceleration, braking, and steering systems to autonomously control the SDV along a current route through the physical environment;

receive, over one or more networks, a directive from a backend system to service a pick-up request from a requesting user, the directive comprising user profile data indicating a physical impairment of the requesting user; and

based on the user profile data indicating the physical impairment of the requesting user, execute a set of configurations to cause the SDV to aid the requesting user over a trip duration between a pick-up location and a destination, wherein executing the set of configurations includes controlling or adjusting one or more of the plurality of configurable components;

wherein the physical impairment comprises a visual impairment, and wherein the set of configurations causes the control system to (i) output audio assistance to aid the requesting user in entering and exiting the SDV, and (ii) dynamically monitor the requesting user, based on the sensor data, in order to output the audio assistance.

2. The SDV of claim 1, wherein the set of configurations causes the control system to initiate a speech recognition control interface to enable the requesting user to control the plurality of configurable components by providing voice input to the SDV.

3. The SDV of claim 2, wherein the plurality of configurable components comprises one or more of a seat adjustment component, an audio system, one or more windows of the SDV, a locking system, a climate control system, or a network service system.

4. The SDV of claim 1, wherein the directive is received from a backend transport facilitation system that manages a transportation service for users throughout a given region, and wherein the set of configurations is based on a set of configuration commands received from the backend transport facilitation system to accommodate the requesting user.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a self-driving vehicle (SDV), cause the one or more processors to:

process sensor data from a sensor array of the SDV to operate acceleration, braking, and steering systems of the SDV to autonomously control the SDV along a current route through a physical environment;

receive, over one or more networks, a directive from a backend system to service a pick-up request from a requesting user, the directive comprising user profile data indicating a physical impairment of the requesting user; and

based on the user profile data indicating the physical impairment of the requesting user, execute a set of configurations to cause the SDV to aid the requesting user over a trip duration between a pick-up location and a destination, wherein executing the set of configurations includes controlling or adjusting one or more of a plurality of configurable components of the SDV;

wherein the physical impairment comprises a visual impairment, and wherein the set of configurations causes the one or more processors to (i) output audio assistance to aid the requesting user in entering and exiting the SDV, and (ii) dynamically monitor the requesting user, based on the sensor data, in order to output the audio assistance.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the set of configurations causes the one or more processors to initiate a speech recognition control interface to enable the requesting user to control the plurality of configurable components by providing voice input to the SDV.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the plurality of configurable components comprises one or more of a seat adjustment component, an audio system, one or more windows of the SDV, a locking system, a climate control system, or a network service system.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the directive is received from a backend transport facilitation system that manages a transportation service for users throughout a given region, and wherein the set of configurations is based on a set of configuration commands received from the backend transport facilitation system to accommodate the requesting user.

9. A computer-implemented method of facilitating transport, the method being performed by one or more processors of a control system of a self-driving vehicle (SDV) and comprising:

processing sensor data from a sensor array of the SDV to operate acceleration, braking, and steering systems of the SDV to autonomously control the SDV along a current route through a physical environment;

receiving, over one or more networks, a directive from a backend system to service a pick-up request from a requesting user, the directive comprising user profile data indicating a physical impairment of the requesting user; and

based on the user profile data indicating the physical impairment of the requesting user, executing a set of configurations to cause the SDV to aid the requesting user over a trip duration between a pick-up location and a destination, wherein executing the set of configurations includes controlling or adjusting one or more of a plurality of configurable components of the SDV;

wherein the physical impairment comprises a visual impairment, and wherein the set of configurations causes the control system to (i) output audio assistance to aid the requesting user in entering and exiting the SDV, and (ii) dynamically monitor the requesting user, based on the sensor data, in order to output the audio assistance.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the set of configurations causes the control system to initiate a speech recognition control interface to enable the requesting user to control the plurality of configurable components by providing voice input to the SDV.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of configurable components comprises one or more of a seat adjustment component, an audio system, one or more windows of the SDV, a locking system, a climate control system, or a network service system.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the directive is received from a backend transport facilitation system that manages a transportation service for users throughout a given region, and wherein the set of configurations is based on a set of configuration commands received from the backend transport facilitation system to accommodate the requesting user.