Rules based driver selection

• US 10,325,228 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2016
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zemcar, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Zemcar, Inc.
• Inventors: Khan, Bilal W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Waesco, Joseph M
• Application Number:
  US15/337,636
• Publication Number:
  US 20170124506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A method includes receiving a request for a ride from a user via a computer-implemented driver assignment platform; for each of multiple drivers, implementing, by the driver assignment platform, (1) a first rule to determine a first metric of trust for the driver, the first level of trust associated with the user, and (2) a second rule to determine a second metric of trust for the driver, the second metric of trust associated with multiple other users of the driver assignment platform; implementing, by the driver assignment platform, a selection rule to select a particular driver from the multiple drivers based on a combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust; and assigning the selected driver to provide the ride for the user.

Claims

1. A method including:

determining, in advance of receiving a request for a ride from a user via a computer-implemented driver assignment platform, trust-related data for each of multiple drivers, by;

implementing, by the driver assignment platform, (1) a first rule to determine a first metric of trust for the driver, the first metric of trust associated with the user, and (2) a second rule to determine a second metric of trust for the driver, the second metric of trust based on a rating of the driver by each of multiple other users of the driver assignment platform, the multiple other users being connected to the user in a social network; and

determining, based on a combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust for each of the multiple drivers, the trust-related data representing a level of trust for each of the multiple drivers;

filtering, from the multiple drivers, one or more drivers having an unsatisfactory trust level compared to a specified threshold, the trust level being represented by the trust related-data, to generate a group of eligible drivers;

presenting, via an interface of the computer-implemented driver assignment platform, a visualization summarizing the group of eligible drivers, in which presenting the visualization comprises;

defining a plurality of regions in the visualization, each region representing a priority for assignment of one or more drivers, represented in the region, for providing the ride; and

presenting, in the visualization, one or more selectable controls each representing an eligible driver from the group of eligible drivers, including positioning each selectable control in one of the defined regions based on the trust-related data associated with the eligible driver represented by the selectable control, wherein one or more of the selectable controls is configured to be moveable from a first region of the plurality of regions to a second region of the plurality of regions to change the priority for assignment of the eligible driver represented by that selectable control for providing the ride;

receiving the request for the ride from the user via the computer-implemented driver assignment platform;

implementing, by the driver assignment platform, a selection rule to select a particular driver from the group of eligible drivers based on the trust-related data for each of the one or more eligible drivers and the positions of each of the one or more selectable controls in the plurality of regions;

updating a state of an application to indicate assignment of the selected driver to provide the ride for the user; and

updating the visualization to show the selected driver.

2. The method of claim 1, in which implementing the selection rule includes selecting the driver having a highest value for the combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust.

3. The method of claim 1, in which implementing a first rule to determine a first metric of trust includes assigning the driver to a particular level of multiple levels of a circle of trust associated with the user.

4. The method of claim 3, including assigning the driver to the particular level based on information indicative of a past interaction between the user and the driver.

5. The method of claim 3, including assigning the driver to the particular level based on input from the user indicative of the particular level.

6. The method of claim 1, in which implementing a second rule to determine a second metric of trust includes determining the second metric of trust based on information indicative of past performance of the driver.

7. The method of claim 1, in which implementing a second rule to determine a second metric of trust includes determining the second metric of trust based on ride data automatically collected from the driver during one or more rides provided by the driver.

8. The method of claim 1, including setting a fare for the ride based on one or more of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust for the selected driver.

9. The method of claim 1, including:

implementing, by the driver assignment platform, a selection rule to select a second driver from the multiple drivers based on a combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust; and

assigning the second driver as a back-up driver for the ride.

10. The method of claim 1, including:

providing information about the requested ride to the selected driver; and

receiving confirmation from the selected driver,

in which the selected driver is assigned to provide the ride for the user upon receipt of confirmation from the selected driver.

11. The method of claim 1, including providing information about the selected driver to the user.

12. The method of claim 1, including enabling rendering of a graphical display of the first metric for each of multiple drivers.

13. The method of claim 12, in which the graphical display includes multiple concentric circles, and in which each driver is positioned within one of the multiple concentric circles based on the first metric for the driver.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the trust-related data comprises pre-calculating the trust-related data, and wherein pre-calculating the trust-related data reduces a computation time for responding to the request for the ride from the user relative to a computation time for responding to the request without pre-calculating the trust-related data.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for causing a computing system to:

determine, in advance of receiving a request for a ride from a user via a computer-implemented driver assignment platform, trust-related data for each of multiple drivers, by;

implementing, by the driver assignment platform, (1) a first rule to determine a first metric of trust for the driver, the first metric of trust associated with the user, and (2) a second rule to determine a second metric of trust for the driver, the second metric of trust based on a rating of the driver by each of multiple other users of the driver assignment platform, the multiple other users being connected to the user in a social network; and

determining, based on a combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust for each of the multiple drivers, the trust-related data representing a level of trust for each of the multiple drivers;

filter, from the multiple drivers, one or more drivers having an unsatisfactory trust level compared to a specified threshold, the trust level being represented by the trust related-data, to generate a group of eligible drivers;

present, via an interface of the computer-implemented driver assignment platform, a visualization summarizing the group of eligible drivers, in which presenting the visualization comprises;

defining a plurality of regions in the visualization, each region representing a priority for assignment of one or more drivers, represented in the region, for providing the ride; and

presenting, in the visualization, one or more selectable controls each representing an eligible driver from the group of eligible drivers, including positioning each selectable control in one of the defined regions based on the trust-related data associated with the eligible driver represented by the selectable control, wherein one or more of the selectable controls is configured to be moveable from a first region of the plurality of regions to a second region of the plurality of regions to change the priority for assignment of the eligible driver represented by that selectable control for providing the ride;

receive the request for the ride from the user via the computer-implemented driver assignment platform;

implement, by the driver assignment platform, a selection rule to select a particular driver from the group of eligible drivers based on the trust-related data for each of the one or more eligible drivers and the positions of each of the one or more selectable controls in the plurality of regions;

update a state of an application to indicate assignment of the selected driver to provide the ride for the user; and

update the visualization to show the selected driver.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, in which implementing the selection rule includes selecting the driver having a highest value for the combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, in which implementing a first rule to determine a first metric of trust includes assigning the driver to a particular level of multiple levels of a circle of trust associated with the user.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, in which the instructions cause the computing system to set a fare for the ride based on one or more of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust for the selected driver.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, in which the instructions cause the computing system to:

implement a selection rule to select a second driver from the multiple drivers based on a combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust; and

assign the second driver as a back-up driver for the ride.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, in which the instructions cause the computing system to enable rendering of a graphical display of the first metric for each of multiple drivers.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, in which the graphical display includes multiple concentric circles, and in which each driver is positioned within one of the multiple concentric circles based on the first metric for the driver.

22. A computing system including:

a processor and memory configured to;

determine, in advance of receiving a request for a ride from a user via a computer-implemented driver assignment platform, trust-related data for each of multiple drivers, by;

implementing, by the driver assignment platform, (1) a first rule to determine a first metric of trust for the driver, the first metric of trust associated with the user, and (2) a second rule to determine a second metric of trust for the driver, the second metric of trust based on a rating of the driver by each of multiple other users of the driver assignment platform, the multiple other users being connected to the user in a social network; and

determining, based on a combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust for each of the multiple drivers, the trust-related data representing a level of trust for each of the multiple drivers;

filter, from the multiple drivers, one or more drivers having an unsatisfactory trust level compared to a specified threshold, the trust level being represented by the trust related-data, to generate a group of eligible drivers;

present, via an interface of the computer-implemented driver assignment platform, a visualization summarizing the group of eligible drivers, in which presenting the visualization comprises;

defining a plurality of regions in the visualization, each region representing a priority for assignment of one or more drivers, represented in the region, for providing the ride; and

presenting, in the visualization, one or more selectable controls each representing an eligible driver from the group of eligible drivers, including positioning each selectable control in one of the defined regions based on the trust-related data associated with the eligible driver represented by the selectable control, wherein one or more of the selectable controls is configured to be moveable from a first region of the plurality of regions to a second region of the plurality of regions to change the priority for assignment of the eligible driver represented by that selectable control for providing the ride;

receive the request for the ride from the user via the computer-implemented driver assignment platform;

implement, by the driver assignment platform, a selection rule to select a particular driver from the group of eligible drivers based on the trust-related data for each of the one or more eligible drivers and the positions of each of the one or more selectable controls in the plurality of regions;

update a state of an application to indicate assignment of the selected driver to provide the ride for the user; and

update the visualization to show the selected driver.

23. The computing system of claim 22, in which implementing the selection rule includes selecting the driver having a highest value for the combination of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust.

24. The computing system of claim 22, in which implementing a first rule to determine a first metric of trust includes assigning the driver to a particular level of multiple levels of a circle of trust associated with the user.

25. The computing system of claim 22, in which implementing a second rule to determine a second metric of trust includes determining the second metric of trust based on a rating of the driver from each of one or more of the multiple other users.

26. The computing system of claim 22, in which the processor and memory are configured to set a fare for the ride based on one or more of the first metric of trust and the second metric of trust for the selected driver.

27. The computing system of claim 22, in which the processor and memory are configured to enable rendering of a graphical display of the first metric for each of multiple drivers.