US 2022/0309925 A1 · LOITERING MODE FOR RIDER PICKUPS WITH AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Abstract

The technology involves pickups of riders by autonomous vehicles in a manner that ensures the rider is picked up within an estimated time of arrival (ETA). For instance, in accordance with customer authorization, the autonomous vehicle may loiter or otherwise stay within a certain proximity (e.g., distance or time) to guarantee rider pickup within a predetermined time. One vehicle may be assigned to a rider for a set timeframe or multiple vehicles may be allocated to a particular event. Either approach may be used to ensure rider pickup with minimal waiting. One benefit is to avoid user-initiated ride requests when the customer is ready to depart a location, because a vehicle will already be present and ready to take the rider to their desired destination. Loitering may include prepositioning a vehicle at a given place, or driving autonomously to be nearby as needed.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of managing rider pickups for a vehicle operating in an autonomous driving mode, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors associated with the vehicle operating in the autonomous driving mode, trip information corresponding to a trip for a rider, the trip information including an estimated time to pick up the rider;
identifying, by the one or more processors, a boundary representing at least one of a physical distance or a temporal limit for which the vehicle is able to pick up the rider by the estimated pickup time;
causing, by the one or more processors, a driving system of the vehicle to preposition the vehicle within the boundary in the autonomous driving mode to ensure the vehicle is able to pick up the rider by the estimated pickup time;
and
after prepositioning the vehicle and upon receiving location information for the rider, causing, by the one or more processors, the driving system to maneuver the vehicle to a determined pickup location before or at the estimated pickup time in the autonomous driving mode.

2 more elements

A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous driving mode, the vehicle comprising:

a perception system including one or more sensors, the one or more sensors being configured to receive sensor data associated with objects in an external environment of the vehicle;
a driving system including a steering subsystem, an acceleration subsystem and a deceleration subsystem to control driving of the vehicle;
a positioning system configured to determine a current position of the vehicle;
and
a control system including one or more processors, the control system operatively coupled to the driving system, the perception system and the positioning system, the control system being configured to:
receive trip information corresponding to a trip for a rider, the trip information including an estimated time to pick up the rider;
identify a boundary representing at least one of a physical distance or a temporal limit for which the vehicle is able to pick up the rider by the estimated pickup time;
cause the driving system of the vehicle to preposition the vehicle within the boundary in the autonomous driving mode to ensure the vehicle is able to pick up the rider by the estimated pickup time;
and
after prepositioning the vehicle and upon receiving location information for the rider, cause the driving system to maneuver the vehicle to a determined pickup location before or at the estimated pickup time in the autonomous driving mode.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Loitering mode for rider pickups with autonomous vehicles

Life of this patent

Loitering mode for rider pickups with autonomous vehicles

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20