Creating aisle access for autonomous vehicle parking

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10317911-B2
Application number	US-201816014493-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 21, 2018
Priority date	Feb 1, 2015
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

A method includes receiving a request for access associated with a selected one of a plurality of autonomous vehicles in an array that comprises a plurality of columns, wherein the selected autonomous vehicle is in a first one of the columns and blocked by one or more other autonomous vehicles in the first column and one or more other autonomous vehicles in a second one of the columns, and computing coordinated movements for one or more of the autonomous vehicles to provide the requested access such that in each of the first and second columns, one or more of the autonomous vehicles in the column are moved longitudinally to move the column, and the movement of each of the first and second columns collectively creates a temporary access aisle for the selected autonomous vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a central computing device, a request for access associated with a selected one of a plurality of autonomous vehicles in an array that comprises a plurality of columns, wherein the selected autonomous vehicle is in a first one of the columns and blocked by one or more other autonomous vehicles in the first column and one or more other autonomous vehicles in a second one of the columns; and
computing, by the central computing device, coordinated movements for one or more of the autonomous vehicles to provide the requested access, wherein:
in each of the first and second columns, one or more of the other autonomous vehicles in each of the first and second columns are moved to create a gap in each of the first and second columns; and
the gap created in each of the first and second columns collectively create a temporary access aisle for the selected autonomous vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing, by the central computing device, the autonomous vehicles in the first and second columns to execute autonomously the set of coordinated movements to provide the requested access.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in each of the first and second columns, one or more of the autonomous vehicles are moved to split each of the first and second columns, thereby creating the gap in each of the first and second columns for the temporary access aisle, with one or more of the autonomous vehicles in each of the first and second columns being on one side of the temporary access aisle and one or more other autonomous vehicles in each of the first and second columns being on another side of the temporary access aisle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in each of the first and second columns, one or more of the autonomous vehicles are moved to shift each of the first and second columns, thereby creating a gap at an end of each of the first and second columns for the temporary access aisle, with all autonomous vehicles in each of the first and second columns being on a same side of the temporary access aisle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporary access aisle is:
perpendicular to one or more of each of the first and second columns; or
diagonal with respect to one or more of each of the first and second columns.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the set of coordinated movements:
the autonomous vehicles in the first and second columns all drive forward;
the autonomous vehicles in the first and second columns all drive backward; or
some of the autonomous vehicles in the first and second columns drive forward and other of the autonomous vehicles in the first and second columns drive backward.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the request for access is one of a plurality of requests for access associated with a plurality of selected ones of the autonomous vehicles in the array; and
the plurality of requests are batched based on one or more of their urgency, their type, or an efficiency of batch composition for simultaneous movement.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the temporary access aisle is created, the selected autonomous vehicle:
is made available, through the temporary access aisle, for cargo loading or unloading; or
is made available, through the temporary access aisle, for passenger loading.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the central computing device is in one of the autonomous vehicles in the array.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the central computing device is external to the autonomous vehicles in the array.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a communication network wirelessly connects the autonomous vehicles to the central computing device.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the communication network:
communicates location information from one or more of the autonomous vehicles in the array to the central computing device; or
communicates movement information based on the coordinated movements computed by the central computing device from the central computing device to one or more of the autonomous vehicles in the array.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the communication network is unidirectional or bidirectional.

14. The method claim 11 , wherein the communication network is:
part of a vehicle-control network operating only in an area where the array of autonomous vehicles is located; or
part of a communication system operating in a larger area that encompasses the location of the array of autonomous vehicles.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the autonomous vehicles in the array each comprises sensors for determining the autonomous vehicle's absolute location in the array or relative location with respect to one or more other autonomous vehicles in the array.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the autonomous vehicle communicates its determined absolute or relative location in the array to the central computing device.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the autonomous vehicles in the array each comprises sensors for determining another autonomous vehicle's location in the array.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the autonomous vehicle communicates the other autonomous vehicle's location in the array to the central computing device.

19. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:
receive, by a central computing device, a request for access associated with a selected one of a plurality of autonomous vehicles in an array that comprises a plurality of columns, wherein the selected autonomous vehicle is in a first one of the columns and blocked by one or more other autonomous vehicles in the first column and one or more other autonomous vehicles in a second one of the columns; and
compute, by the central computing device, coordinated movements for one or more of the autonomous vehicles to provide the requested access, wherein:
in each of the first and second columns, one or more of the other autonomous vehicles in each of the first and second columns are moved to create a gap in each of the first and second columns; and
the gap created in each of the first and second columns collectively create a temporary access aisle for the selected autonomous vehicle.

20. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media coupled to one or more of the processors and comprising instructions operable when executed by one or more of the processors to cause the system to:
receive, by a central computing device, a request for access associated with a selected one of a plurality of autonomous vehicles in an array that comprises a plurality of columns, wherein the selected autonomous vehicle is in a first one of the columns and blocked by one or more other autonomous vehicles in the first column and one or more other autonomous vehicles in a second one of the columns; and
compute, by the central computing device, coordinated movements for one or more of the autonomous vehicles to provide the requested access, wherein:
in each of the first and second columns, one or more of the other autonomous vehicles in each of the first and second columns are moved to create a gap in each of the first and second columns; and
the gap created in each of the first and second columns collectively create a temporary access aisle for the selected autonomous vehicle.

Assignees

• Lyft Inc

Inventors

• Harvey Thomas Danaher

Classifications

• G08G1/22

  Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles · CPC title

• B60W30/06

  Automatic manoeuvring for parking · CPC title

• G08G1/168

  Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space · CPC title

• E04H6/422

  Automatically operated car-parks · CPC title

• G08G1/20

  Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles · CPC title