Determining available storage capacity of a vehicle

• US 10,387,982 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2017
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LYFT Incorporated
• Original Assignee: LYFT Incorporated
• Inventors: Baldwin, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Isaac G
• Application Number:
  US15/475,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20170206293A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 701 1, 701 36, 703 6
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 5/00 Compartments within vehicle body primarily intended or sufficiently spacious for trunks, suit-cases, or the like primarily intended for stowing loads in load-transporting vehicles B60P; arrangements for stowing spare wheels B62D43/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/28 for measuring areas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Tracking remaining storage capacity of a vehicle using sensors via a wireless system of the vehicle is presented herein. A method can include receiving first data representing an object; receiving second data representing a storage space of a vehicle; and determining, using the first data and the second data, whether the object is capable of placement within the storage space of the vehicle. In an example, the method can further include displaying information representing an order of placements of a set of objects comprising the object, a proposed location for the object, and/or a proposed orientation for the object within the storage space of the vehicle in response to the object being determined to be capable of placement within the storage space of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor via a sensor component, data representing at least one characteristic of a first object, the system and the sensor component being included in a vehicle including storage space;

detecting, by the system via the sensor component, that the first object has been removed from the storage space of the vehicle;

determining, by the system, that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the first object indicates an increase in the storage space of the vehicle based on detecting the first object has been removed from the storage space;

receiving, by the system via the sensor component, data representing at least one characteristic of a second object, the second object being included in the storage space of the vehicle;

determining, by the system, that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object indicates a probability of a movement of the second object in the storage space; and

sending, by the system, a message directed to a device comprising a warning indicating the probability of the movement of the second object within the storage space.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting comprises detecting the first object has been removed from the storage space utilizing a camera.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

sending a query directed to a cloud-based storage device, wherein the query comprises a request to receive the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object indicates a probability of a movement of the second object in the storage space comprises:

correlating an identifier of the second object with the at least one characteristic of the second object.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the correlating comprises associating the identifier of the second object with a center of gravity of the second object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement of the second object in the storage space comprises at least one of a tilt or a roll of the second object within the storage space.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor component comprises an imaging device configured to examine the at least one characteristic of the first object and the at least one characteristic of the second object.

7. A system comprising:

a processor;

a sensor component; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving, via the sensor component, data representing at least one characteristic of a first object, the sensor component being included in a vehicle including a storage area;

detecting, via the sensor component, a removal of the first object from the storage area of the vehicle;

determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the first object indicates an increase in the storage area of the vehicle based on detecting the removal of the first object from the storage area;

receiving, via the sensor component, data representing at least one characteristic of a second object, the second object being included in the storage area of the vehicle;

determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object indicates a probability of a movement of the second object in the storage area; and

sending, to a wireless device, a message comprising a warning indicating the probability of the movement of the second object within the storage area.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining dimensions representing an available storage capacity of the vehicle based on the detected removal of the first object from the storage area of the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on the dimensions representing the available storage capacity, determining whether a third object is capable of being placed within the storage area of the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a reconfiguration of a component of the storage area for placement of the third object within a reconfigured portion of the storage area based on determining that the third object is not capable of being placed within the storage area of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending a message directed to a mobile device representing the reconfiguration.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object indicates a probability of a movement of the second object in the storage area is based, at least in part, on image data representing the storage area of the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object indicates a probability of a movement of the second object in the storage area comprises:

associating, via a data store, an identifier representing the second object with the at least one characteristic of the second object.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one characteristic of the second object comprises a center of gravity of the second object.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein movement of the second object in the storage area comprises at least one of a roll or a tilt of the second object within the storage area.

20. The system of claim 7, wherein the sensor component comprises an imaging device configured to examine the at least one characteristic of the first object and the at least one characteristic of the second object.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving, via a sensor component, data representing at least one characteristic of a first object, the sensor component being included in a vehicle including a storage area;

detecting, via the sensor component, that the first object has been removed from the storage area of the vehicle;

determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the first object indicates an increase in the storage area of the vehicle based on detecting the first object has been removed from the storage area;

receiving, via the sensor component, data representing at least one characteristic of a second object, the second object being included in the storage area of the vehicle;

determining that the data representing the at least one characteristic of the second object indicates a probability of a movement of the second object in the storage area; and

sending to a wireless device, a message comprising a warning indicating the probability of the movement of the second object within the storage area.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining an available storage capacity of the vehicle based on detecting the first object has been removed from the storage area.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on the available storage capacity, determining whether a third object is capable of being placed within the storage area of the vehicle.