VEHICLE RIDE SHARING SYSTEM AND METHOD USING SMART MODULES

• US 20180039917A1
• Filed: 08/03/2016
• Published: 02/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: BUTTOLO, Pietro, SALTER, Stuart C., RANKIN, II, James Stewart, SURMAN, James J., HUEBNER, Annette Lynn, WALLACE, Jeffrey A., GARDNER, Cornel Lewis
• Granted Patent: US 11,599,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4029 Pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00253 Taxi operations
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3438 Rendez-vous, i.e. searching a destination where several users can meet, and the routes to this destination for these users; Ride sharing, i.e. searching a route such that at least two users can share a vehicle for at least part of the route
• 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: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A vehicle sharing system includes a vehicle having interior transceiver modules associated with different passenger seating areas and a vehicle computing system (VCS) including a processor and a memory in communication with the modules and programmed to detect occupancy status of each seating area based on signals from the modules and to communicate the occupancy statuses to a remote server to facilitate scheduling of ride-sharing passengers for a specified seating area of the vehicle. The reserved seating location may be used to align the seating location/door with a passenger during pick-up, adjust vehicle accessory settings associated with the reserved seating location, and activate a visual indicator to direct the passenger to the assigned/reserved seating location.

Claims

1. A vehicle sharing system, comprising:

a vehicle having interior transceiver modules associated with different passenger seating areas; and

a vehicle computing system (VCS) including a processor and a memory in communication with the modules and programmed to detect occupancy status of each seating area based on signals from the modules and to communicate the occupancy statuses to a remote server to facilitate scheduling of ride-sharing passengers for a specified seating area of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, the vehicle further comprising a visual indicator associated with each of the passenger seating areas, the VCS programmed to activate the visual indicator that is associated with a reserved passenger seating area in response to the vehicle approaching a pick-up location associated with the reserved passenger seating area.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator comprises a video display, the VCS further programmed to transmit a passenger name and associated destination to the video display.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator comprises a vehicle interior light.

5. The system of claim 1, the VCS configured to transmit a message for receipt by a passenger mobile device associated with an occupied passenger seating area in response to approaching a drop-off location associated with the occupied passenger seating area.

6. The system of claim 1, the VCS configured to receive passenger preference settings from the remote server associated with a passenger pick-up reservation for a designated passenger seating area.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the VCS is programmed to control at least one vehicle accessory associated with the pick-up reservation for the designated passenger seating area based on the received passenger preference settings.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the VCS controls a vehicle accessory associated with a reserved seating area prior to arrival at a scheduled pick-up location in response to received passenger preference settings for the reserved seating area.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the VCS is programmed to verify a passenger identity for a reserved seating area based on communication with a passenger mobile device, and to control at least one of a vehicle lock and a vehicle door in response to verifying the passenger identity.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the VCS is programmed to communicate an available occupancy status for a passenger seating area to the remote server in response to detecting a passenger exiting the vehicle based on signals received from the modules.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the VCS is programmed to position the vehicle to align a reserved passenger seating area with a passenger scheduled for pick-up and located outside the vehicle in response to triangulation of signals received from a passenger mobile device by the modules.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the VCS is programmed to unlock a cargo area in response to arriving at a passenger location based on detecting luggage in the cargo area using the modules if the luggage is associated with the passenger location.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the passenger location is a passenger pick-up location received from the remote server and wherein the VCS is programmed to unlock the cargo area in response to an encrypted handshake with a passenger personal device.

11. The system of claiml wherein the modules comprise BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) modules.

15. A method for controlling a ride-sharing vehicle, comprising:

controlling, by a vehicle processor, a vehicle accessory associated with an individually reservable passenger seating location in response to receiving a reservation for the seating location having associated accessory setting preferences and a scheduled passenger pick-up location such that the settings of the vehicle accessory are changed according to the preferences prior to the vehicle arriving at the pick-up location.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the vehicle accessory comprises at least one of vehicle heating, interior lighting, a seat heater, a seat cooler, and a seat positioner.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the vehicle comprises a plurality of modules with at least one module associated with each reservable passenger seating location configured to communicate with a passenger mobile device, the method further comprising:

transmitting a reservable passenger seating location availability signal to a remote server in response to a passenger exiting the vehicle as detected based on signals received from the passenger mobile device by at least two of the modules.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising activating, by the vehicle processor, a visual indicator associated with the reservable passenger seating location assigned to the reservation prior to arriving at the scheduled passenger pick-up location.

19. A non-transitory storage medium having stored instructions executable by a vehicle processor comprising instructions for:

receiving a reservation for a seating location of a ride-sharing vehicle including a pick-up location, destination, and preferred accessory settings;

controlling at least one vehicle accessory associated with the seating location based on the preferred accessory settings prior to or upon arrival at the pick-up location; and

aligning the available seating location with a passenger location upon the arrival.

20. The storage medium of claim 19 further comprising instructions for:

detecting the passenger location based on signals received from at least two transceiver modules within the vehicle communicating with a personal device of the passenger.