Autonomous Vehicle Control Using Service Pools Across Different Service Entities

• US 20190318277A1
• Filed: 04/12/2019
• Published: 10/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Goldman, Brent, Hagestad, Leigh Gray, Way, Matthew James
• Granted Patent: US 11,625,649 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling an autonomous vehicle and the service selection for an autonomous vehicle are provided. In one example embodiment, a computing system can obtain data indicative of a first vehicle service assignment for an autonomous vehicle. The first vehicle service assignment can be associated with a first service entity and indicative of a first vehicle service. The computing system can determine that the autonomous vehicle is available to perform a second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service. The computing system can obtain data indicative of a second vehicle service assignment for the autonomous vehicle. The second vehicle service assignment can be associated with a second service entity that is different than the first service entity and is indicative of the second vehicle service. The computing system can cause the autonomous vehicle to concurrently perform the first vehicle service with the second vehicle service.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for autonomous vehicle control, comprising:

obtaining, by a computing system that comprises one or more computing devices, data indicative of a first vehicle service assignment for an autonomous vehicle, wherein the first vehicle service assignment is associated with a first service entity, and wherein the first vehicle service assignment is indicative of a first vehicle service;

obtaining, by the computing system, data associated with the autonomous vehicle;

determining, by the computing system, that the autonomous vehicle is available to perform a second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service based at least in part on the first vehicle service assignment and the data associated with the autonomous vehicle;

obtaining, by the computing system, data indicative of a second vehicle service assignment for the autonomous vehicle, wherein the second vehicle service assignment is associated with a second service entity that is different than the first service entity, and wherein the second vehicle service assignment is indicative of the second vehicle service; and

causing, by the computing system, the autonomous vehicle to concurrently perform the first vehicle service of the first vehicle service assignment with the second vehicle service of the second vehicle service assignment.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the autonomous vehicle is indicative of a capacity of the autonomous vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the data associated with the autonomous vehicle comprises sensor data, and wherein obtaining the data associated with the autonomous vehicle comprises obtaining the sensor data via at least one of an interior camera of the autonomous vehicle or a weight sensor of the autonomous vehicle.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first vehicle service assignment is indicative of a number of seats that are required for the first vehicle service.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first vehicle service assignment is indicative of an amount of cargo space that is required for the first vehicle service.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first vehicle service is a same type of vehicle service as the second vehicle service.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first vehicle service is a different type of vehicle service than the second vehicle service.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing system is onboard the autonomous vehicle.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing the autonomous vehicle to concurrently perform the first vehicle service of the first vehicle service assignment with the second vehicle service of the second vehicle service assignment comprises:

causing the autonomous vehicle to initiate a motion control to concurrently transport at least one of a first user or a first item for the first vehicle service with at least one of a second user or a second item for the second vehicle service.

10. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computing system to perform operations comprising;

obtaining data indicative of a first vehicle service assignment for an autonomous vehicle, wherein the first vehicle service assignment is associated with a first service entity, and wherein the first vehicle service assignment is indicative of a first vehicle service;

determining whether the autonomous vehicle is available or is unavailable to perform a second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service based at least in part on the first vehicle service assignment;

when it is determined that the autonomous vehicle is available to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service,

obtaining data indicative of a second vehicle service assignment for the autonomous vehicle, wherein the second vehicle service assignment is associated with a second service entity that is different than the first service entity, and wherein the second vehicle service assignment is indicative of the second vehicle service; and

when it is determined that the autonomous vehicle is unavailable to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service,

causing the autonomous vehicle to perform the first vehicle service of the first vehicle service assignment without concurrently performing the second vehicle service.

11. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise accepting the first vehicle service assignment for the autonomous vehicle.

12. The computing system of claim 11, wherein determining whether the autonomous vehicle is available or is unavailable to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service comprises:

determining whether the autonomous vehicle is available or is unavailable to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service prior to accepting the first vehicle service assignment for the autonomous vehicle.

13. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise obtaining data indicative of a capacity of the autonomous vehicle.

14. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the data indicative of the capacity of the autonomous vehicle is obtained via one or more sensors located onboard the autonomous vehicle.

15. The computing system of claim 13, wherein determining whether the autonomous vehicle is available or is unavailable to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service comprises:

determining whether the autonomous vehicle is available or is unavailable to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service based at least in part on the data indicative of the capacity of the autonomous vehicle.

16. The computing system of claim 10, wherein obtaining data indicative of the second vehicle service assignment comprises:

accessing a vehicle service assignment queue associated with the autonomous vehicle, wherein the vehicle service assignment queue comprises data indicative of a plurality of candidate vehicle service assignments, and wherein at least one of the candidate vehicle service assignments is indicative of the second vehicle service.

17. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

obtaining data indicative of a first vehicle service assignment, wherein the first vehicle service assignment is associated with a first service entity, and wherein the first vehicle service assignment is indicative of a first vehicle service;

determining that the autonomous vehicle is available to perform a second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service based at least in part on the first vehicle service assignment;

obtaining data indicative of a plurality of candidate vehicle service assignments, wherein at least one of the candidate vehicle service assignments is indicative of the second vehicle service;

selecting a second vehicle service assignment for the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on one or more of the plurality of candidate vehicle service assignments, wherein the second vehicle service assignment is associated with a second service entity that is different from the first service entity; and

causing the autonomous vehicle to concurrently perform the first vehicle service of the first vehicle service assignment with the second vehicle service of the second vehicle service assignment.

18. The autonomous vehicle of claim 17, wherein causing the autonomous vehicle to concurrently perform the first vehicle service of the first vehicle service assignment with the second vehicle service of the second vehicle service assignment comprises:

causing the autonomous vehicle to travel for the first vehicle service prior to determining that the autonomous vehicle is available to perform the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service, and subsequent to selecting the second vehicle service assignment, causing the autonomous vehicle to travel for the second vehicle service concurrently with the first vehicle service.

19. The autonomous vehicle of claim 18, wherein the first vehicle service is a delivery service and the second vehicle service is a transportation service, and wherein the autonomous vehicle begins to transport an item in accordance with the delivery service prior to one or more users boarding the autonomous vehicle for the transportation service.

20. The autonomous vehicle of claim 19, wherein causing the autonomous vehicle to perform the first vehicle service of the first vehicle service assignment concurrently with the second vehicle service of the second vehicle service assignment comprises:

causing the autonomous vehicle to initiate a motion control to transport the item during at least a portion of a time that the one or more users occupy the autonomous vehicle.