Wearable for autonomous vehicle interaction

• US 10,317,897 B1
• Filed: 11/16/2016
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zoox Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Zoox Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kentley-Klay, Timothy David, Kaushansky, Karen, Mamo, Vincent
• Primary Examiner(s): Goldman, Richard A
• Application Number:
  US15/353,685
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 701 22, 701 23, 701 45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/037 for occupant comfort , e.g. for automatic adjustment of appliances according to personal settings, e.g. seats, mirrors, steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3688 Systems comprising multiple parts or multiple output devices (not client-server), e.g. detachable faceplates, key fobs or multiple output screens
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0016 characterised by the operator's input device input arrangements for computing systems in general G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors

Abstract

An aesthetically pleasing discreet wearable system for interacting with a vehicle, or fleet of vehicles. The wearable system may be worn as a necklace, bracelet, anklet, or the like and allows for communication between a passenger and a vehicle, or fleet of vehicles. A passenger may summon or cancel a ride, alter interior lighting and music levels, or otherwise control a vehicle by interacting with the wearable system. Such interaction includes signals generated by a microphone, by a touch sensor, or by gesture recognition. The wearable system communicates to the passenger a successful summoning of a ride, successfully canceling a ride, and a time to arrival by combinations of vibrations, light emissions, and audio alerts.

Claims

1. A wearable device for enabling passenger interaction with an autonomous vehicle comprising:

a transceiver;

a sensor, an output of which comprises a passenger input signal;

a notification element, the notification element comprising at least one of a vibration element;

one or more processors in communication with the transceiver, the sensor, and the notification element; and

memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wearable device to;

receive a passenger communication signal from the autonomous vehicle;

activate the notification element based at least in part on the passenger communication signal; and

send the passenger input signal to the autonomous vehicle,

wherein the passenger input signal comprises passenger preference information, the passenger preference information comprising at least one of specified vehicle lighting levels, specified vehicle audio levels, specified music to be played in the autonomous vehicle, specified routes for the autonomous vehicle to follow, or specified ride profiles,

wherein sending the passenger input signal to the autonomous vehicle causes the autonomous vehicle to operate according to the passenger preference information,

wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to determine a hand gesture based at least in part on the passenger input signal and, based at least in part on the hand gesture, at least one of summon a ride from the autonomous vehicle or cancel a ride from the autonomous vehicle; and

cause the notification element to vibrate a first number of times when the autonomous vehicle is a first distance from the wearable device and vibrate a second number of times when the autonomous vehicle is a second distance from the wearable device, the first number of times and the second number of times differing from one another, and the first distance and the second distance differing from one another.

2. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the notification element comprises a plurality of light emitters configured to serve as fiducials to an external imaging system on the autonomous vehicle, a light emitter of the plurality of light emitters operating in at least one of infrared frequencies and visible light frequencies, and

wherein determining the hand gesture comprises receiving an output from the external imaging system.

3. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the sensor includes a touch sensor, and the touch sensor is one of a pressure sensor, a capacitive touch sensor, a resistive touch sensor, or an inductive touch sensor.

4. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the sensor includes at least one of an inertial measurement unit, gyroscope, or magnetometer, and wherein the hand gesture comprises raising a hand.

5. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle is located remotely from the wearable device,

wherein one or more passenger input signals are mapped in the memory to one or more functions,

wherein the one or more functions are communicated to the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein causing the autonomous vehicle to operate according to the passenger preference information comprises causing the autonomous vehicle to operate according to the passenger preference information while remote from the wearable device.

6. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the memory further stores instructions, that responsive to receiving the passenger communication signal from the autonomous vehicle causes the wearable device to activate the notification element, the passenger communication signal indicative of at least one of a ride from the autonomous vehicle being successfully summoned or a ride from the autonomous vehicle being successfully cancelled.

7. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is configured to pair with a smartphone.

8. The wearable device of claim 7, wherein the memory further stores instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, causes the wearable device to communicate to the smartphone, over the transceiver, a request for additional data available on the smartphone and further wherein, the additional data comprises data stored in a database on the smartphone indicative of passenger information.

9. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the wearable device is one of a necklace or cufflink.

10. A method for enabling a passenger to communicate with an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:

generating a passenger input signal, the passenger input signal corresponding to output of a sensor located on a wearable system;

mapping, based at least in part on a hand gesture associated with the passenger input signal, one or more functions to the passenger input signal, the one or more functions comprising at least one of summoning a ride from the autonomous vehicle or canceling a ride from the autonomous vehicle;

sending the one or more functions from a transceiver of the wearable system;

receiving a passenger communication signal at the transceiver; and

activating a notification element based, at least in part, on the passenger communication signal, the notification element comprising at least one of a vibration element, a light emitter, or an audio emitter,

wherein the one or more functions further comprise at least one of changing a volume of an audio source in the autonomous vehicle, changing a music source in the autonomous vehicle, changing a lighting level in the autonomous vehicle, or changing a ride profile of the autonomous vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a touch sensor or a gesture recognition sensor, the touch sensor comprising one or more of a pressure sensor, a capacitive touch sensor, a resistive touch sensor or an inductive touch sensor, the gesture recognition sensor comprising one or more of an inertial measurement unit, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

pairing the wearable system, over the transceiver, with a smartphone;

requesting additional information from the smartphone;

accessing the additional information from the smartphone, wherein the additional information comprises data stored in a database on the smartphone indicative of passenger information; and

communicating the additional information to one or more of the autonomous vehicle or the wearable system.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more functions further comprise communicating a pick-up location to the autonomous vehicle,

wherein the hand gesture is raising a hand,

wherein summoning a ride comprises sending a function configured to cause the autonomous vehicle to autonomously navigate to a location proximate the wearable system, and

wherein activating the notification element comprises altering one or more of a blink rate of the light emitter, a pulse rate of the vibration element, or an audio signal of the audio emitter based at least in part on a distance between the autonomous vehicle and the wearable system.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the autonomous vehicle is located remotely from the wearable system, and wherein the passenger communication signal is received when the one or more functions is successfully performed by the autonomous vehicle.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the wearable system is worn on the passenger as one of a necklace or a cufflink.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor outputs a signal corresponding to a raise of a hand of the passenger according to the gesture recognition sensor.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein mapping comprises outputting a summon ride function based, at least in part, on a passenger input signal of a touch sensor activation for not less than three seconds, wherein the summon ride function, when received by an autonomous vehicle, causes the autonomous vehicle to navigate to a location proximate the wearable system.

18. A system comprising:

a wearable system having one or more processors, at least one transceiver, at least one sensor, at least one vibration element, at least one light emitting diode, and at least one audio emitter;

wherein,

the sensor comprises one or more of a pressure sensor, capacitive touch sensor, resistive touch sensor, inductive touch sensor, inertial measurement unit, gyroscope, magnetometer, barometer, thermometer, or GPS receiver;

the transceiver communicates between the one or more processors and a communication network; and

memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to;

create a passenger input signal, wherein the passenger input signal is based at least in part on an output from the sensor;

map the passenger input signal to one or more functions, the one or more functions comprising one or more of a summon ride function, a cancel ride function, an adjust audio function, or an adjust lighting function;

send the passenger input signal to an autonomous vehicle through the transceiver;

receive, from the transceiver, a passenger communication signal;

activate one or more of the at least one vibration element, the at least one audio emitter, or the at least one light emitting diode based, at least in part, on the passenger communication signal; and

communicate information comprising passenger preference information to at least one of the autonomous vehicle or a fleet management system, the passenger preference information comprising at least one of specified vehicle lighting levels, specified vehicle audio levels, specified music to be played in the autonomous vehicle, specified routes for the autonomous vehicle to follow, and specified ride profiles,

wherein the passenger preference information, when received by the autonomous vehicle, causes the autonomous vehicle to operate in accordance with the passenger preference information, and

wherein the wearable system is a necklace or a cufflink.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the passenger communication signal is generated by the autonomous vehicle in response to the autonomous vehicle successfully performing the one or more functions.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the passenger preference information comprises a specified ride profile, the specified ride profile comprising a preferred suspension setting.