Autonomous drop-off and pick-up

A system for autonomous vehicle drop-off and pick-up of an individual, comprising:

• a global positioning system (GPS) unit receiving a drop-off location associated with a drop-off of the individual;
• a communication unit receiving a parking location, a pick-up location associated with pick-up of the individual, a pick-up time associated with pick-up of the individual, and a timing factor associated with an estimated arrival of the individual at the pick-up location;
• a timing controller:
• determining an adjusted pick-up time associated with the pick-up of the individual based on the timing factor;
• and
• determining a departure time for the autonomous pick-up of the individual based on the adjusted pick-up time;
• an environment sensor detecting an object in an operating environment;
• and
• an autonomous controller:
• autonomously parking the autonomous vehicle, by travelling from the drop-off location to the parking location after drop-off of the individual;
• and
• autonomously picking up the individual, by departing, at the departure time, from the parking location and travelling to the pick-up location,
• wherein the autonomous controller navigates the autonomous vehicle around the object in the operating environment.

A method for operating an autonomous vehicle to drop-off and pick-up an individual, comprising:

• receiving global positioning system (GPS) location data including a drop-off location associated with a drop-off of the individual;
• receiving a parking location, a pick-up location associated with pick-up of the individual, a pick-up time associated with pick-up of the individual, and a timing factor associated with an estimated arrival of the individual at the pick-up location;
• determining an adjusted pick-up time associated with the pick-up of the individual based on the timing factor;
• determining a departure time for the autonomous pick-up of the individual based on the adjusted pick-up time;
• autonomously parking the autonomous vehicle, by travelling from the drop-off location to the parking location after drop-off of the individual;
• and
• autonomously picking up the individual, by departing, at the departure time, from the parking location and travelling to the pick-up location.