Managing autonomous vehicles needing energy replenishment

• US 10,409,285 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2017
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DoorDash, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bostick, James E., Ganci, Jr., John M., Keen, Martin G., Rakshit, Sarbajit K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cuong H
• Application Number:
  US15/837,278
• Publication Number:
  US 20180113464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 638 Days
• Field of Search: 320109, 701 11, 701222- 25, 701300, 342457, 342458
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• 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 1/0217 in accordance with energy consumption, time reduction or distance reduction criteria
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0285 using signals transmitted via a public communication network, e.g. GSM network
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• 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: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

Managing autonomous vehicles is provided. Autonomous vehicle energy data and travel data are collected. A plurality of autonomous vehicles that need energy replenishment within a defined geographic area is determined. A rank is determined for each of the plurality of autonomous vehicles that need energy replenishment within the defined geographic area to meet passenger-defined travel destination time constraints. Each autonomous vehicle is directed to an energy station in a set of energy stations within the defined geographic area to the meet passenger-defined travel destination time constraints based on the rank of each of the plurality of autonomous vehicles.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing autonomous vehicles, the computer-implemented method comprising:

collecting, by a computer, autonomous vehicle energy data and travel data;

determining, by the computer, a plurality of autonomous vehicles that need energy replenishment within a defined geographic area;

determining, by the computer, a rank for each of the plurality of autonomous vehicles that need energy replenishment within the defined geographic area to meet passenger-defined travel destination time constraints; and

directing, by the computer, each autonomous vehicle to an energy station in a set of energy stations within the defined geographic area to meet the passenger-defined travel destination time constraints based on the rank of each of the plurality of autonomous vehicles.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

calculating, by the computer, whether an autonomous vehicle needs to replenish an onboard energy source to reach a travel destination based on collected autonomous vehicle energy data and travel data corresponding to the autonomous vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the onboard energy source is selected from a group consisting of electricity for an electric engine autonomous vehicle and combustible fuel for a combustion engine autonomous vehicle.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer uses the rank of each of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to prioritize scheduling of each autonomous vehicle at the energy station.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting, by the computer, via a network, routing information to the energy station and prioritized scheduling at the energy station to each autonomous vehicle needing energy replenishment.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:

transmitting, by the computer, via the network, a notification of an energy replenishing event at the energy station with an indication as to whether the passenger-defined travel destination time constraints will be met to a passenger of a respective autonomous vehicle needing energy replenishment based on the prioritized scheduling at the energy station.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer collects the autonomous vehicle energy data and travel data from each respective autonomous vehicle in the plurality of autonomous vehicles in real time.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the energy data includes a current energy level and energy consumption rate of each respective autonomous vehicle.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the travel data includes travel destination, travel route, and the passenger-defined travel destination time constraints corresponding to each respective autonomous vehicle.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer directs autonomous vehicles to selected energy stations that will minimize energy replenishment times to meet the passenger-defined travel destination time constraints.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer uses ranking criteria and weighting factors to determine the rank and a queue time for each respective autonomous vehicle needing energy replenishment at selected energy stations.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the defined geographic area includes one or more zones having one or more roadway systems.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer is a server computer in a cloud environment.