# US 12,118,637 B2 · Passenger and item coordinated delivery system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,118,637 B2 - Document ID: US12118637B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/358,351 - Filed: 2021-06-25 - Published: 2022-12-29 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2021-06-25 - Assignees: Zoox, Inc. - Applicants: Zoox, Inc. - Inventors: Nicholas Liotta - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12118637B2 ## CPC - G06Q 50/40: Business processes related to the transportation industry (shipping G06Q10/083) - G05D 1/0212: {with means for defining a desired trajectory (involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287)} - G05D 1/0217: {in accordance with energy consumption, time reduction or distance reduction criteria} - 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)} - G05D 1/0297: {by controlling means in a control room} - G05D 1/644: Optimisation of travel parameters, e.g. of energy consumption, journey time or distance - G05D 1/692: involving a plurality of disparate vehicles - G06Q 10/06315: {Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis} - G08G 1/202: {Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching} - H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services - H04W 4/40: for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] - B60P 3/007: {for delivery of small articles, e.g. milk, frozen articles} - B60W 60/00253: {Taxi operations} - B60W 60/00256: {Delivery operations} - G06Q 10/08355: {Routing methods} - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - B60P: VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS (vehicles with special provisions for transporting patients or disabled persons, or their personal conveyances A61G3/00) - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT ## Abstract A transportation system controls a fleet of autonomous vehicles to implement passenger transportation and coordinate delivery of baggage or other associated items using separate vehicles. The transportation system receives passenger data and associated item data via a user interface, and determines the number and type of autonomous vehicles to transport the passengers and items from selected pick-up locations to a destination. In various implementations, the transportation system may support different pick-up locations, pick-up times and/or delivery times for the passengers and associated items. The transportation system also may determine delayed item delivery options for different delivery times and modes of transportation. Based on the passenger and item data, along with input received via the user interface, the transportation system determines the vehicles to deploy and the delivery routes, and transmits instructions to the autonomous vehicles to provide the passenger transportation and perform the item delivery. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving a transportation request indicating a first pick-up location associated with one or more passengers, a second pick-up location associated with at least one item, and a destination location; determining passenger data based at least in part on the transportation request, wherein the passenger data indicates at least one passenger associated with the transportation request; determining item data associated with the transportation request, wherein the item data includes at least one of an item weight, an item size, an item type, or a number of items; determining that at least two vehicles are required to serve the transportation request based at least in part on the passenger data, the item data, and a size of one or more vehicles; determining a first vehicle within a fleet of vehicles to transport the at least one passenger, based at least in part on the passenger data; determining a second vehicle within the fleet of vehicles to transport one or more items, based at least in part on the item data; causing a first instruction to be sent to the first vehicle, the first instruction controlling the first vehicle to transport the at least one passenger from the first pick-up location to the destination location; and causing a second instruction to be sent to the second vehicle, the second instruction controlling the second vehicle to transport the one or more items from the second pick-up location to the destination location. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the passenger data includes a first pick-up time and the item data includes a second pick-up time different from the first pick-up time; wherein the first instruction comprises the first pick-up location, the first pick-up time, and a first identifier associated with the at least one passenger; and wherein the second instruction comprises the second pick-up location, the second pick-up time, and a second identifier associated with the one or more items. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the operations further comprising: receiving a passenger pick-up time associated with the transportation request; determining, based at least in part on the passenger pick-up time, a first item itinerary including a first item pick-up time, and a second item itinerary including a second item pick-up time; determining a first cost associated with the first item itinerary; determining a second cost associated with the second item itinerary; transmitting, to a user device associated with the transportation request, the first item itinerary including the first item pick-up time and the first cost, and the second item itinerary including the second item pick-up time and the second cost; and receiving, from the user device, a selection of the first item itinerary or the second item itinerary. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein: determining the first vehicle is based at least in part on determining that the first vehicle includes a passenger compartment compatible with the passenger data; and determining the second vehicle is based at least in part on determining that the second vehicle includes a storage compartment compatible with the item data. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the operations further comprising: determining a first route for the first vehicle, including the first pick-up location and the destination location; and determining a second route for the second vehicle, including the second pick-up location and the destination location, wherein the second route is different from the first route. ### Claim 6 A method comprising: receiving, by a transportation system, a transportation request indicating a first drop-off location associated with a passenger and a second drop-off location associated with an item; determining, by the transportation system and based at least in part on the transportation request, passenger data associated with the passenger; determining, by the transportation system and based at least in part on the transportation request, item data associated with the item; determining that at least two vehicles are required to serve the transportation request based at least in part on the passenger data and the item data; causing, by the transportation system, a first instruction to be sent to a first vehicle, the first instruction controlling the first vehicle to transport the passenger to the first drop-off location; and causing, by the transportation system, a second instruction to be sent to a second vehicle, the second instruction controlling the second vehicle to transport the item to the second drop-off location. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the passenger data includes a first pick-up time and the item data includes a second pick-up time different from the first pick-up time; wherein the first instruction comprises the first pick-up time, and a first identifier associated with the passenger; and wherein the second instruction comprises the second pick-up time, and a second identifier associated with the item. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising: receiving a passenger pick-up time associated with the transportation request; determining, based at least in part on the passenger pick-up time, a first item itinerary including a first item pick-up time, and a second item itinerary including a second item pick-up time; determining a first cost associated with the first item itinerary; determining a second cost associated with the second item itinerary; transmitting, to a user device associated with the transportation request, the first item itinerary including the first item pick-up time and the first cost, and the second item itinerary including the second item pick-up time and the second cost; and receiving, from the user device, a selection of the first item itinerary or the second item itinerary. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining item specification data associated with the item, the item specification data including at least one of an item weight, an item size, an item type, or an item number; determining a number of passengers based at least in part on the passenger data; and determining a number of vehicles associated with the transportation request, based at least in part on the item specification data and the number of passengers. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining the first vehicle within a fleet of vehicles to transport the passenger, based at least in part on determining that the first vehicle includes a passenger compartment compatible with the passenger data; and determining the second vehicle within the fleet of vehicles to transport the item, based at least in part on determining that the second vehicle includes a storage compartment compatible with the item data. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining a first route for the first vehicle based at least in part on a first pick-up location and the first drop-off location; and determining a second route for the second vehicle based at least in part on a second pick-up location and the second drop-off location, wherein the first drop-off location is the same as the second drop-off location, and wherein the first route is different from the second route. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the first route includes first one or more driving segments and a first flying segment associated with a first flight; and wherein the second route includes second one or more driving segments and a second flying segment associated with a second flight different from the first flight. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining a first security classification associated with the passenger, wherein determining the first route is based at least in part on the first security classification; and determining a second security classification associated with the item, wherein determining the second route is based at least in part on the second security classification. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the first pick-up location and the second pick-up location are a same location. ### Claim 15 One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable by a processor, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving a transportation request indicating a first drop-off location associated with a passenger and a second drop-off location associated with an item; determining passenger data associated with the passenger based at least in part on the transportation request; determining item data associated with the item based at least in part on the transportation request; determining that at least two vehicles are required to serve the transportation request based at least in part on the passenger data and the item data; causing a first instruction to be sent to a first vehicle, the first instruction controlling the first vehicle to transport the passenger to the first drop-off location; and causing a second instruction to be sent to a second vehicle, the second instruction controlling the second vehicle to transport the item to the second drop-off location. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the passenger data includes a first pick-up time and the item data includes a second pick-up time different from the first pick-up time; wherein the first instruction comprises the first pick-up time, and a first identifier associated with the passenger; and wherein the second instruction comprises the second pick-up time, and a second identifier associated with the item. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the operations further comprising: receiving a passenger pick-up time associated with the transportation request; determining, based at least in part on the passenger pick-up time, a first item itinerary including a first item pick-up time, and a second item itinerary including a second item pick-up time; determining a first cost associated with the first item itinerary; determining a second cost associated with the second item itinerary; transmitting, to a user device associated with the transportation request, the first item itinerary including the first item pick-up time and the first cost, and the second item itinerary including the second item pick-up time and the second cost; and receiving, from the user device, a selection of the first item itinerary or the second item itinerary. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the operations further comprising: determining item specification data associated with the item, the item specification data including at least one of an item weight, an item size, an item type, or an item number; determining a number of passengers based at least in part on the passenger data; and determining a number of vehicles associated with the transportation request, based at least in part on the item specification data and the number of passengers. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the operations further comprising: determining the first vehicle within a fleet of vehicles to transport the passenger, based at least in part on determining that the first vehicle includes a passenger compartment compatible with the passenger data; and determining the second vehicle within the fleet of vehicles to transport the item, based at least in part on determining that the second vehicle includes a storage compartment compatible with the item data. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the operations further comprising: determining a first route for the first vehicle based at least in part on a first pick-up location and the first drop-off location; and determining a second route for the second vehicle based at least in part on a second pick-up location and the second drop-off location, wherein the first drop-off location is the same as the second drop-off location, and wherein the first route is different from the second route.