Self-driving car scheduling method, car scheduling server, and self-driving car

• US 10,409,289 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2016
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Huimin
• Primary Examiner(s): Badii, Behrang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Testardi, David A
• Application Number:
  US15/343,603
• Publication Number:
  US 20170075358A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,040 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0027 involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0285 using signals transmitted via a public communication network, e.g. GSM network
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0287 involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of computer technologies, and discloses a self-driving car scheduling method, a car scheduling server, and a self-driving car. The method includes: receiving a ride request; determining, according to the ride request and driving information of self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars; calculating a first time required by each first candidate car to arrive at a ride destination according to current location information, current road status information, and planned route information of each first candidate car; determining a final candidate car from the at least one first candidate car according to the first time corresponding to each first candidate car, where the final candidate car at least meets an expected destination arrival time; and delivering the ride request to the final candidate car.

Claims

1. A self-driving car scheduling method by a server, wherein the method comprises:

by the server,

receiving a ride request, wherein the ride request comprises at least a ride starting location, a ride destination, and an expected destination arrival time;

determining, according to the ride request and driving information of multiple self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars;

calculating, according to current location information, current road status information, and planned route information of each first candidate car, a required time required by each first candidate car to arrive at the ride destination;

determining a final candidate car from the at least one first candidate car according to the required time corresponding to each first candidate car, wherein the final candidate car at least meets the expected destination arrival time according to the required time; and

delivering the ride request to the final candidate car, so that the final candidate car responds to the ride request, to cause a hardware processor of the final candidate car to execute,

determining whether a ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in a driving task list of ride requests in an order of execution;

when no ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in the driving task list, determining an execution order of the ride request according to the expected destination arrival time of the ride request; and

adding the ride request to the driving task list according to the execution order of the ride request to execute the ride request according to the order of execution of the ride requests in the driving task list.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the determining, according to the ride request and driving information of self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars, the method further comprises:

by the server,

acquiring the driving information of the self-driving cars within the management range, wherein the driving information comprises at least current location information, current road status information, the planned route information, and a planned destination arrival time as the required time; and

the determining, according to the ride request and driving information of self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars comprises;

determining the at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars according to the ride starting location and the ride destination, wherein a planned route or an extended route of the planned route of the first candidate car comprises the ride starting location and the ride destination.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein before the determining the at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars according to the ride starting location and the ride destination, the method further comprises:

by the server,

when the ride request comprises ride sharing information and a quantity of passengers, determining, from the self-driving cars within the management range, at least one second candidate car that has vacant seats whose quantity is not less than the quantity of passengers and that agrees with ride sharing; and

the determining the at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars according to the ride starting location and the ride destination comprises;

determining the at least one first candidate car from the at least one second candidate car according to the ride starting location and the ride destination.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ride request further comprises passenger information, and the delivering the ride request to the final candidate car comprises:

delivering the ride request comprising passenger information to the final candidate car, so that after arriving at the ride starting location, the final candidate car determines a sender of the ride request according to the passenger information,

wherein the passenger information comprises at least one of a passenger feature identifier or a passenger nearby typical road identifier.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the delivering the ride request to the final candidate car, the method further comprises:

by the server,

sending security verification information of the final candidate car to a sending terminal of the passenger request, so that when arriving at the ride starting location, the final candidate car verifies, according to the security verification information, security verification information provided by a sender of the passenger request.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the delivering the ride request to the final candidate car, the method further comprises:

by the server,

updating planned route information of the final candidate car, and sending updated planned route information to the final candidate car, so that the final candidate car determines a driving route according to the updated planned route information.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the delivering the ride request to the final candidate car, the method further comprises:

by the server,

sending identifier information of the final candidate car to a sending terminal of the passenger request, so that a sender of the passenger request determines the final candidate car according to the identifier information of the final candidate car.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

by the server,

when the final candidate car does not exist among the multiple self-driving cars within the management range, performing scheduling again on a newly received ride request and all unexecuted ride requests, and sending a scheduling result to a corresponding self-driving car.

9. A car scheduling server, wherein the server comprises:

a hardware processor to,

receive a ride request, wherein the ride request comprises at least a ride starting location, a ride destination, and an expected destination arrival time;

determine, according to the ride request and driving information of self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from multiple self-driving cars;

calculate, according to current location information, current road status information, and planned route information of each first candidate car, a required time required by each first candidate car to arrive at the ride destination;

determine a final candidate car from the at least one first candidate car according to the required time corresponding to each first candidate car, wherein the final candidate car at least meets the expected destination arrival time according to the required time; and

deliver the ride request to the final candidate car, so that the final candidate car responds to the ride request, to cause a hardware processor of the final candidate car to,

determine whether a ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in a driving task list of ride requests in an order of execution;

when no ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in the driving task list, determine an execution order of the ride request according to the expected destination arrival time of the ride request; and

add the ride request to the driving task list according to the execution order of the ride request to execute the ride request according to the order of execution of the ride requests in the driving task list.

10. The server according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

acquire the driving information of the self-driving cars within the management range, wherein the driving information comprises at least current location information, current road status information, the planned route information, and a planned destination arrival time as the required time, wherein

the at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars is determined according to the ride starting location and the ride destination, wherein a planned route or an extended route of the planned route of the first candidate car comprises the ride starting location and the ride destination.

11. The server according to claim 10, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

when the ride request comprises ride sharing information and a quantity of passengers, determine, from the self-driving cars within the management range, at least one second candidate car that has vacant seats whose quantity is not less than the quantity of passengers and that agrees with ride sharing, wherein

the at least one first candidate car from the at least one second candidate car is determined according to the ride starting location and the ride destination.

12. The server according to claim 9, wherein to deliver the ride request, the ride request comprising passenger information is delivered to the final candidate car, so that after arriving at the ride starting location, the final candidate car determines a sender of the ride request according to the passenger information,

wherein the passenger information comprises at least one of a passenger feature identifier or a passenger nearby typical road identifier.

13. The server according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

send security verification information of the final candidate car to a sending terminal of the passenger request, so that when arriving at the ride starting location, the final candidate car verifies, according to the security verification information, security verification information provided by a sender of the passenger request.

14. The server according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

update planned route information of the final candidate car, and send updated planned route information to the final candidate car, so that the final candidate car determines a driving route according to the updated planned route information.

15. The server according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

send identifier information of the final candidate car to a sending terminal of the passenger request, so that a sender of the passenger request determines the final candidate car according to the identifier information of the final candidate car.

16. The server according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

when the final candidate car does not exist among the multiple self-driving cars within the management range, perform scheduling again on a newly received ride request and all unexecuted ride requests, and send a scheduling result to a corresponding self-driving car.

17. A self-driving car scheduling method by a hardware processor of a self-driving car among multiple self-driving cars, wherein the method comprises:

by the hardware processor,

receiving a ride request delivered by a car scheduling server, according to the car scheduling server determining the self-driving car to receive the ride request by,

determining, according to the ride request and driving information of the multiple self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars,

calculating, according to current location information, current road status information, and planned route information of each first candidate car, a required time required by each first candidate car to arrive at the ride destination, and

determining the self-driving car as a final candidate car from the at least one first candidate car according to the required time corresponding to each first candidate car, wherein the self-driving car at least meets the expected destination arrival time according to the required time, and

wherein the ride request comprises at least a ride starting location, a ride destination, an expected destination arrival time, and passenger information;

determining whether a ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in a driving task list of ride requests in an order of execution;

when no ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in the driving task list, determining an execution order of the ride request according to the expected destination arrival time of the ride request, and adding the ride request to the driving task list according to the execution order of the ride request to execute the ride requests according to the order of execution of the ride requests in the driving task list.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein after the adding the ride request to the driving task list according to the execution order of the ride request, the method further comprises:

by the hardware processor,

setting an execution status for the ride request,

wherein the driving task list comprises at least one ride request and an execution status corresponding to each ride request.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

by the hardware processor,

during execution of any ride request, upon arrival at a ride starting location corresponding to the ride request, performing precise matching and positioning on a current location of a sender of the ride request according to a passenger nearby typical road identifier comprised in the ride request, so that after the sender of the ride request confirms, according to received car identifier information, a self-driving car that arrives at the ride starting location, the self-driving car drives away from the ride starting location.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

by the hardware processor,

during execution of any ride request, upon arrival at a ride starting location corresponding to the ride request, confirming a sender of the ride request according to a passenger feature identifier comprised in the ride request, so that after the sender of the ride request confirms, according to received car identifier information, a self-driving car that arrives at the ride starting location, the self-driving car drives away from the ride starting location.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

by the hardware processor,

after it is detected that a passenger performs a destination change operation on a user interface UI, updating the driving task list according to a changed destination.

22. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

by the hardware processor,

when it is detected that a traffic jam or a traffic accident occurs on a current driving route of the self-driving car, performing a ride request scheduling negotiation with the car scheduling server, to obtain a scheduling negotiation result; and

updating the driving task list according to the scheduling negotiation result and transferring at least one subsequent ride request to another self-driving car.

23. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

by the hardware processor,

when it is detected that a traffic jam or a traffic accident occurs on a current driving route, performing a ride request scheduling negotiation with another self-driving car with which communication is established, to obtain a scheduling negotiation result; and

updating the driving task list according to the scheduling negotiation result and transferring at least one subsequent ride request to the another self-driving car.

24. A self-driving car among multiple self-driving cars, wherein the car comprises:

a hardware processor to,

receive a ride request delivered by a car scheduling server, according to the car scheduling server determining the self-driving car to receive the ride request by,

determining, according to the ride request and driving information of the multiple self-driving cars within a management range, at least one first candidate car from the multiple self-driving cars,

calculating, according to current location information, current road status information, and planned route information of each first candidate car, a required time required by each first candidate car to arrive at the ride destination, and

determining the self-driving car as a final candidate car from the at least one first candidate car according to the required time corresponding to each first candidate car, wherein the self-driving car at least meets the expected destination arrival time according to the required time, and

wherein the ride request comprises at least a ride starting location, a ride destination, an expected destination arrival time, and passenger information;

determine whether a ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in a driving task list of ride requests in an order of execution;

when no ride request conflicting with the ride request exists in the driving task list, determine an execution order of the ride request according to the expected destination arrival time of the ride request, and add the ride request to the driving task list according to the execution order of the ride request to execute the ride requests in sequence according to the order of execution of the ride requests in the driving task list.

25. The car according to claim 24, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

set an execution status for the ride request,

wherein the driving task list comprises at least one ride request and an execution status corresponding to each ride request.

26. The car according to claim 24, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

during execution of any ride request, upon arrival at a ride starting location corresponding to the ride request, perform precise matching and positioning on a current location of a sender of the ride request according to a passenger nearby typical road identifier comprised in the ride request, so that after the sender of the ride request confirms, according to received car identifier information, the self-driving car that arrives at the ride starting location, the self-driving car drives away from the ride starting location.

27. The car according to claim 24, wherein the hardware processor is to further, during execution of any ride request, upon arrival at a ride starting location corresponding to the ride request, confirm a sender of the ride request according to a passenger feature identifier comprised in the ride request, so that after the sender of the ride request confirms, according to received car identifier information, the self-driving car that arrives at the ride starting location, the self-driving car drives away from the ride starting location.

28. The car according to claim 24, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

after it is detected that a passenger performs a destination change operation on a user interface UI, update the driving task list according to a changed destination.

29. The car according to claim 24, wherein the hardware processor is to further:

when it is detected that a traffic jam or a traffic accident occurs on a current driving route of the self-driving car, perform a ride request scheduling negotiation with the car scheduling server, to obtain a scheduling negotiation result, wherein

the driving task list update module is further configured to update the driving task list according to the scheduling negotiation result and transfer at least one subsequent ride request to another self-driving car.

30. The car according to claim 24, wherein the hardware processor is to further, when it is detected that a traffic jam or a traffic accident occurs on a current driving route, perform a ride request scheduling negotiation with another self-driving car with which communication is established, to obtain a scheduling negotiation result;

and

update the driving task list according to the scheduling negotiation result and transfer at least one subsequent ride request to the another self-driving car.