VEHICLE REQUEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM HAVING A CENTRAL SERVER

• US 20150046080A1
• Filed: 04/13/2012
• Published: 02/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bridgestone Mobility Solutions BV (Bridgestone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TomTom Telematics BV (Bridgestone Corporation)
• Inventors: Wesselius, Kees, Geelen, Pieter Andreas, Goddijn, Harold, van Dijk, Daan Reyer
• Granted Patent: US 10,012,515 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/428
• 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 vehicle request management system having a server 10 arranged to communicate with a plurality of vehicle requesting devices 12 and a plurality of vehicles 14, each being equipped with a device 200 having route planning and navigation functionality. Upon receipt of a vehicle request, the server 10 selects a suitable vehicle 14 and determines the route that the vehicle should travel to the pick-up location and then onto the drop-off location. The server 10 receives updates as to the position of the selected vehicle 14 as it completes the request, and uses data associated with the calculated route and the position of the selected vehicle 14 to provide enhanced functionality.

Claims

1. A vehicle request management system, the system having a server comprising:

communications device arranged to communicate with a first device and a second device associated with a vehicle, the communications device being further arranged to receive a vehicle request from the first device, the vehicle request comprising a first location, and the communications device being further arranged to receive a second location from the first device or the second device;

memory comprising digital map data having a plurality of navigable segments representing segments of a navigable route in a geographical area covered by the map; and

at least one processor arranged to calculate a route between the received first location and second location to be travelled by the vehicle associated with the second device using the digital map data;

wherein said communications device is further arranged to receive positional data relating to the position of the second device over time.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a mobile device having a location determining device arranged to determine the current geographical position of the device, and the first location comprises the current geographical position of the first device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first device has an associated location stored at the server, and the first location corresponds to said associated location.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first location comprises a pick-up location.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the second location comprises a drop-off location or the current geographical position of the second device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the second device comprises a navigation device positionable within the vehicle and arranged to calculate a route between the first and second locations to be travelled by the vehicle, said route being substantially identical to the route calculated at the server.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle request further comprises one or more of:

data indicative of a desired pick-up time;

at least one vehicle preference;

at least one driver preference; and

data indicative of the number of people to be picked-up.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is arranged to analyse the content of the received vehicle request and select a vehicle that meets the criteria of the vehicle request, said first device being associated with the second device of the selected vehicle.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the communications device is arranged to transmit data indicative of at least a portion of the calculated route and the received positional data to the first device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is arranged to compare the received positional data with the calculated route, and to determine if the vehicle deviates from the calculated route.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein if the vehicle is determined to have deviated from the calculate route, the processing means is further arranged to compare at least one of the actual journey time and distance with the corresponding estimated journey time and distance associated with the calculated route, and to reduce a rating of the driver if the comparison indicates the actual journey time or distance is greater than the estimated journey time or distance.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is arranged to determine the arrival of the vehicle at and/or the departure of the vehicle from at least one of the first and second locations using data associated with the calculated route and the received positional data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the communications device is arranged to transmit an indication of at least one of the determined arrival and departure of the vehicle to at least one of the first device and second device.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication device is arranged to transmit data indicative of at least a portion of the calculated route and the received positional data to the first device for display thereon.

14. A method of managing vehicle requests at a server between a first device and a second device associated with a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving a vehicle request at the server from the first device, the vehicle request comprising a first location;

receiving a second location at the server from the first device or the second device;

calculating a route between the received first location and second location to be travelled by the vehicle associated with the second device using digital map data stored at the server having a plurality of navigable segments representing segments of a navigable route in a geographical area covered by the map; and

receiving positional data at the server relating to the position of the second device over time.

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