VEHICLE REQUEST DEVICE

• US 20140051465A1
• Filed: 04/13/2012
• Published: 02/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TomTom International BV (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: TomTom International BV (TomTom NV)
• Inventors: Ruys, Godert Otto Anthony, Bruinsm, Tako, Blom, Steven Hans
• Granted Patent: US 9,618,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

A device 20 for requesting a vehicle to a location associated with the device. The device 20 comprises input means 126 arranged to generate a vehicle request upon receipt of a user input, said device 20 being arranged to allow at least a second vehicle request to be generated using the input means before the vehicle associated with a first vehicle request has departed from the location associated with the device. The device 20 is arranged, for each vehicle request, to generate a message indicative of the status of the vehicle request and to display the generated message on a display 124. The device is arranged to stop displaying the message on the display 124 when the requested vehicle departs from the location.

Claims

1. A vehicle request device for requesting a vehicle to a location associated with the device, the device comprising:

at least one processor;

an input device arranged to cause the at least one processor to generate a vehicle request upon receipt of a user input, said vehicle request device being arranged to allow at least a second vehicle request to be generated using the input device before the vehicle associated with a first vehicle request has departed from the location associated with the vehicle request device; and

a communications device for communicating with a remote device, said communications device being arranged to transmit the generated vehicle requests to the remote device, said vehicle requests comprising data indicative of the location associated with the vehicle request device, and said communications device being further arranged to receive information from the remote device relating to the status of a transmitted vehicle request;

wherein said vehicle request device is arranged, for each vehicle request, to generate a message indicative of the status of the vehicle request using the received information and to display the generated message on a display; and

wherein said communications device is further arranged to receive an indication from the remote device that a vehicle that has accepted a vehicle request has departed from the location associated with the vehicle request device, said vehicle request device being arranged to stop displaying the message on the display associated with the vehicle on receipt of said indication.

2. The vehicle request device of claim 1, wherein the location associated with the device is time-dependent.

3. The vehicle request device of claim 1, further comprising a location determining device, and wherein the location associated with the device is the location output by the location determining device.

4. The vehicle request device of claim 1, comprising an input device arranged to cause the at least one processor to cancel a previously made vehicle request upon receipt of a user input.

5. The vehicle request device of claim 1, wherein the information received from the remote device comprises at least one of:

an indication that a vehicle request has been at least one of submitted and accepted by a vehicle;

information relating to the driver of a vehicle that has accepted the vehicle request;

information relating to a vehicle that has accepted the vehicle request;

an estimated time of arrival of a vehicle at the location; and

the current location of a vehicle that has accepted the vehicle request.

6. The vehicle request device of claim 1, wherein the display is integral with the device.

7. The vehicle request device of claim 1, wherein the content of a message being displayed varies over time in dependence on the status of the vehicle request.

8. The vehicle request device of claim 7, wherein the generated message comprises at least one of:

a text string or icon representative of the status of the vehicle request;

details of the driver of a vehicle that has accepted the vehicle request;

details of a vehicle that has accepted the vehicle request; and

an estimated time of arrival of a vehicle at the location.

9. The vehicle request device of claim 1, wherein the device is further arranged to cause an output device to provide at least one of a visual, audible and haptic alert in dependence on the status of a vehicle request.

10. The vehicle request device of claim 9, wherein the output device is caused to provide at least one of a visual, audible and haptic alert when a requested vehicle arrives at the location associated with the device.

11. The vehicle request device of claim 9, wherein the output device comprises a light-emitting device, and is integral with the device.

12. The vehicle request device of claim 1, comprising a casing having means for fixing the device to a surface.

13. A vehicle request management system, the system comprising at least one vehicle request device according to claim 1 and a server, the server comprising:

a communications device arranged to communicate with said at least one vehicle request device and a plurality of vehicles; and

at least one processor arranged to select a vehicle from said plurality of vehicle in response to receiving a vehicle request from said at least one vehicle request device;

wherein said communications device is arranged to receive positional data relating to the position of at least the selected vehicle over time,

wherein said at least one processor is arranged to use the received positional data to monitor the status of the vehicle request, and

wherein said communications device is arranged to transmit information relating to the status of the vehicle request to said at least one vehicle request device.

14. A method of requesting a vehicle to a location, the method comprising:

receiving a user input on a device and generating a request for a vehicle to a location associated with the device in response thereto, wherein the device is arranged to allow a second vehicle request to be generated using the input means before the vehicle associated with a first vehicle request has departed from the location associated with the device;

transmitting the generated vehicle request to a remote device;

receiving information from the remote device relating to the status of the transmitted vehicle request and using the information to generate a message for display indicative of the status of the vehicle request;

displaying the generated message on a display; and

receiving an indication from the remote device that a vehicle that accepted the vehicle request has departed from the location associated with the device and stopping the display of the message in response thereto.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method according to claim 14.