Passenger tracking systems and methods
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsScott Vincent Myers, Praveen Narayanan, Harpreetsingh Banvait, Mark Crawford, Alexandru Mihai Gurghian, David Silver
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Example passenger validation systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a method receives, at a vehicle, a transport request indicating a passenger and a pick-up location. The vehicle drives to the pick-up location and authenticates the passenger at the pick-up location. If the passenger is successfully authenticated, the method unlocks the vehicle doors to allow access to the vehicle, determines a number of people entering the vehicle, and confirms that the number of people entering the vehicle matches a number of passengers associated with the transport request.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- receiving, by a vehicle control system, a transport request at a vehicle, the transport request indicating a passenger and a pick-up location;
- driving, by the vehicle control system, to the pick-up location;
- receiving, by the vehicle control system, images from a side-facing camera mounted to the vehicle;
- determining, by the vehicle control system, whether the passenger is impaired while the passenger is outside of the vehicle by evaluating whether the images indicate that the passenger has an irregular walking pattern;
- and
- responsive to determining that the passenger is impaired, refraining, by the vehicle control system, from unlocking the vehicle doors.
A method comprising:
- receiving, by a vehicle control system of a vehicle, a transport request at a vehicle, the transport request indicating a passenger, a pick-up location, and a destination;
- driving, by the vehicle control system, to the pick-up location;
- receiving, by the vehicle control system, images from a side-facing camera mounted to the vehicle;
- determining, by the vehicle control system, whether the passenger is impaired while the passenger is outside of the vehicle by evaluating whether the images indicate that the passenger has an irregular walking pattern;
- responsive to determining that the passenger is not impaired:
- unlocking the vehicle doors and allowing the passenger to access the vehicle;
- as the vehicle drives to the destination, monitoring the passenger to determine whether the passenger is sick or impaired;
- and
- responsive to determining that the passenger is sick or impaired, changing the vehicle's driving characteristics to avoid sudden stops and sharp turns.
An apparatus comprising:
- a communication manager configured to receive a first transport request indicating a passenger, a pick-up location, and a destination;
- an automated driving system configured to drive a vehicle to the pick-up location and the destination;
- a vehicle access manager configured to:
- receive images from a side-facing camera mounted to the vehicle;
- determine whether the passenger is impaired while the passenger is outside of the vehicle by evaluating whether the images indicate that the passenger has an irregular walking pattern;
- and
- when the passenger is determined to be impaired, refraining from unlocking the vehicle doors
- when the passenger is not determined to be impaired unlock the vehicle doors and allow the passenger to access the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.