Remotely controlling comfort components in an autonomous vehicle

An apparatus for managing a vehicle at a vehicle control system, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory coupled with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to:
• monitor a respective location associated with each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles based on vehicle location information transmitted from each of the plurality of vehicles;
• receive, from a user equipment (UE) associated with a customer, customer location information identifying a location of the customer and a set of climate preferences, the set of climate preferences including one or more of a compartment temperature preference, a compartment humidity preference, a number of current passengers preference, a fan speed preference, an air direction preference, or a seat heating or cooling status preference;
• receive, from each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, a set of current compartment climate values based on a triggering event at the vehicle, the set of current compartment climate values including one or more of a compartment temperature, an external temperature, a compartment humidity, an external humidity, a number of current passengers, a fan speed, an air direction, or a seat heating or cooling status;
• select a preferred vehicle from the plurality of vehicles based on one or more climate preferences of the set of climate preferences associated with the customer matching one or more current compartment climate values of the respective set of current compartment values associated with the preferred vehicle;
• and
• transmit, to the preferred vehicle, a first message dispatching the preferred vehicle to the location of the customer, such that the preferred vehicle navigates to the location of the customer.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for managing a vehicle at a vehicle control system, the program code executed by a processor and comprising:

• program code to monitor a respective location associated with each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles based on location information transmitted from each of the plurality of vehicles;
• program code to receive, from a user equipment (UE) associated with a customer, customer location information identifying a location of the customer and a set of climate preferences, the set of climate preferences including one or more of a compartment temperature preference, a compartment humidity preference, a number of current passengers preference, a fan speed preference, an air direction preference, or a seat heating or cooling status preference;
• program code to receive, from each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, a set of current compartment climate values based on a triggering event at the vehicle, the set of current compartment climate values including one or more of a compartment temperature, an external temperature, a compartment humidity, an external humidity, a number of current passengers, a fan speed, an air direction, or a seat heating or cooling status;
• program code to select a preferred vehicle from the plurality of vehicles based on one or more climate preferences of the set of climate preferences associated with the customer matching one or more current compartment climate values of the respective set of current compartment values associated with the preferred vehicle;
• and
• program code to transmit, to the preferred vehicle, a first message dispatching the preferred vehicle to the location of the customer, such that the preferred vehicle navigates to the location of the customer.