Hybrid trip planning for autonomous vehicles

• US 10,586,458 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2019
• Issued: 03/10/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aurora Operations Incorporated (Aurora Innovation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Uatc, LLC (Uber Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bavar, Brett, Bartel, Emily, Zhang, Xiaodong, Nix, Molly, Sweeney, Matthew, Nagy, Bryan
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith-Stewart, Demetra R
• Application Number:
  US16/437,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20190295421A1
• Time in Patent Office: 273 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

A hybrid trip planning system can receive transport requests from requesting users, and determine a pick-up location from each transport request. The pick-up location can be within or external to an autonomy grid on which a plurality of autonomous vehicles (AVs) can operate in an autonomous mode. The system can further determine a drop-off location from the transport request, the drop-off location also being within or external to the autonomy grid. The system can select and route an AV to a most optimal entry and/or exit point of the autonomy grid based on the transport request, where the selected AV is to switch between a manual and an autonomous mode.

Claims

1. A hybrid trip planning system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive a transport request from a requesting user;

determine a pick-up location from the transport request, the pick-up location being within an autonomy grid on which a plurality of autonomous vehicles (AVs) can operate in an autonomous mode;

determine a drop-off location from the transport request, the drop-off location being external to the autonomy grid;

select an AV of the plurality of AVs to service the transport request;

identify a plurality of exit points from the autonomy grid to the drop-off location;

determine a most optimal exit point from the plurality of exit points; and

transmit transport data to the selected AV, the transport data providing a first optimal route for the selected AV to autonomously drive from the pick-up location to the most optimal exit point, at which the selected AV instructs a driver of the selected AV to switch the selected AV into a manual driving mode.

2. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on receiving the transport request, identify a set of candidate AVs within a predetermined proximity of the pick-up location;

wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to select the AV to service the transport request from the set of candidate AVs.

3. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 1, wherein the transport data is executable by the selected AV to cause mapping and routing information to be generated on an interior user interface of the selected AV, the mapping and routing information providing the driver with a second optimal route from the most optimal exit point to the drop-off location.

4. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the most optimal exit point based on a distance optimization using a road network map.

5. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the most optimal exit point based on a time optimization using a live traffic map.

6. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on the pick-up location, determine a set of candidate vehicles to service the transport request, the set of candidate vehicles comprising a blend of one or more non-autonomous vehicles and one or more AVs;

wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to select the selected AV to service the transport request based on the pick-up location and the drop-off location fulfilling a set of criteria which enable availability of autonomous transport services.

7. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 6, wherein the set of criteria includes an autonomy distance threshold comprising a minimum distance percentage in which the selected AV must be in the autonomous mode between the pick-up location and the drop-off location.

16. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 5, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on receiving the transport request, identify a set of candidate AVs within a predetermined proximity of the pick-up location;

wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to select the AV to service the transport request from the set of candidate AVs.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a transport request from a requesting user;

determine a pick-up location from the transport request, the pick-up location being within an autonomy grid on which a plurality of autonomous vehicles (AVs) can operate in an autonomous mode;

determine a drop-off location from the transport request, the drop-off location being external to the autonomy grid;

select an AV of the plurality of AVs to service the transport request;

identify a plurality of exit points from the autonomy grid to the drop-off location;

determine a most optimal exit point from the plurality of exit points; and

transmit transport data to the selected AV, the transport data providing a first optimal route for the selected AV to autonomously drive from the pick-up location to the most optimal exit point, at which the selected AV instructs a driver of the selected AV to switch the selected AV into a manual driving mode.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on receiving the transport request, identify a set of candidate AVs within a predetermined proximity of the pick-up location;

wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to select the AV to service the transport request from the set of candidate AVs.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the transport data is executable by the selected AV to cause mapping and routing information to be generated on an interior user interface of the selected AV, the mapping and routing information providing the driver with a second optimal route from the most optimal exit point to the drop-off location.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the most optimal exit point based on a distance optimization using a road network map.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the most optimal exit point based on a time optimization using a live traffic map.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on the pick-up location, determine a set of candidate vehicles to service the transport request, the set of candidate vehicles comprising a blend of one or more non-autonomous vehicles and one or more AVs;

wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to select the selected AV to service the transport request based on the pick-up location and the drop-off location fulfilling a set of criteria which enable availability of autonomous transport services.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of criteria includes an autonomy distance threshold comprising a minimum distance percentage in which the selected AV must be in the autonomous mode between the pick-up location and the drop-off location.

15. A hybrid trip planning system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive a transport request from a requesting user;

determine a pick-up location from the transport request, the pick-up location being external to an autonomy grid on which a plurality of autonomous vehicles (AVs) can operate in an autonomous mode;

determine a drop-off location from the transport request, the drop-off location being within the autonomy grid;

select an AV of the plurality of AVs to service the transport request;

identify a plurality of entry points into the autonomy grid from the pick-up location;

determine a most optimal entry point from the plurality of entry points; and

transmit transport data to the selected AV, the transport data providing a first optimal route for a driver to drive the selected AV in a manual mode from the pick-up location to the most optimal entry point, at which the selected AV switches into an autonomous driving mode.

17. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 15, wherein the transport data is executable by the selected AV to cause mapping and routing information to be generated on an interior user interface of the selected AV, the mapping and routing information providing the driver with the first optimal route from the pick-up location to the most optimal entry point.

18. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 15, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the most optimal entry point based on a distance optimization using a road network map.

19. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 15, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the most optimal entry point based on a time optimization using a live traffic map.

20. The hybrid trip planning system of claim 15, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on the pick-up location, determine a set of candidate vehicles to service the transport request, the set of candidate vehicles comprising a blend of one or more non-autonomous vehicles and one or more AVs;

wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to select the selected AV to service the transport request based on the pick-up location and the drop-off location fulfilling a set of criteria which enable availability of autonomous transport services.