Fleet management for vehicles using operation modes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11062537-B2
Application number	US-201815908113-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2018
Priority date	Feb 28, 2018
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to determining vehicle operation modes for a fleet of vehicles. This may include maintaining a storage system including vehicle parameters for a vehicle fleet such that each vehicle of the fleet is associated with a set of vehicle parameters. The vehicle operation mode may be determined by selecting one of a plurality of vehicle operation levels arranged in a hierarchy or by identifying a set of tags where each level or tag corresponds to a vehicle driving capability. The determined vehicle operation mode may be communicated to the given vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to operate according to the determined vehicle operation mode.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
maintaining a storage system including vehicle parameters for a vehicle fleet such that each vehicle of the fleet is associated with a set of vehicle parameters;
determining a vehicle operation mode for a given vehicle of the vehicle fleet by selecting one of a plurality of vehicle operation levels arranged in a hierarchy, each of the plurality of vehicle operation levels being associated with a respective set of requirements,
wherein the selecting includes selecting a highest vehicle operation level in the hierarchy for which the set of vehicle parameters meets the respective set of requirements associated with the highest vehicle operation level by comparing the set of vehicle parameters associated with the given vehicle in the storage system with the respective sets of requirements associated with respective ones of the plurality of vehicle operation levels according to an order of the hierarchy; and
communicating the determined vehicle operation mode to the given vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to operate according to the determined vehicle operation mode.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage system comprises a plurality of values for each vehicle in the vehicle fleet, the values including part numbers for a set of vehicle parts installed on the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage system comprises a plurality of values for each vehicle in the vehicle fleet, the values including calibration information for vehicle sensors.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage system comprises a plurality of values for each vehicle in the vehicle fleet, the values including software versions being run on each vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving data from a respective vehicle of the fleet and responsively updating the storage system.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, in response to receiving data from the respective vehicle, determining a revised vehicle operation mode and communicating the revised vehicle operation mode to the respective vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving revised vehicle operation level criteria;
responsively determining a revised vehicle operation mode for the vehicle using the revised vehicle operation level criteria; and
communicating the revised vehicle operation mode to the vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to operate according to the revised vehicle operation mode.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of vehicle operation levels includes a level including an autonomous driving mode.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of vehicle operation levels includes a level including a manual driving mode.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining and communicating the vehicle operation mode are performed periodically for the given vehicle.

11. A method comprising:
maintaining a storage system including vehicle parameters for a vehicle fleet such that each vehicle of the fleet is associated with a set of vehicle parameters;
determining a vehicle operation mode for a given vehicle of the vehicle fleet by:
identifying a combination of predetermined tags associated with an associated set of requirements;
identifying a set of tags based on a first subset of the vehicle parameters for the given vehicle in the storage system, each tag of the set corresponding to a possible driving capability of the given vehicle,
filtering the set of tags based on a second subset of vehicle parameters for the given vehicle, wherein the second subset includes at least one vehicle parameter not included in the first subset, and
comparing the filtered set of tags to the combination of predetermined tags to identify the vehicle operation mode for the given vehicle; and

communicating the determined vehicle operation mode to the given vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to operate according to the determined vehicle operation mode.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of tags includes a tag identifying that the given vehicle is capable of driving in an autonomous driving mode.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of tags includes a tag identifying that the given vehicle is capable of driving in an autonomous driving mode without a test driver.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of tags includes a tag identifying that the given vehicle is capable of driving in an autonomous driving mode and transporting passengers.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of tags includes a tag identifying that the given vehicle is capable of driving in a given type of weather condition.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the given type of weather condition includes rain.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of tags includes a tag identifying that the given vehicle is capable of driving in a given type of road surface condition.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the given type of road surface condition includes a degree of slipperiness of a roadway.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of tags includes a tag identifying that the given vehicle is capable of driving in external environments having a predetermined temperature.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein filtering the set of tags is further based on whether the storage system includes a work order for the given vehicle identifying an operation mode requirement for the given vehicle.

Assignees

• Waymo Llc

Inventors

• Andrade Ryan Joseph
• Cash Ryan
• Colijn Peter
• Feenstra Laurens Andreas
• Gao Congyu
• Haehnel Dirk
• Reis Steven
• Stephens Omari

Classifications

• G06Q10/08 Primary

  Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management · CPC title

• G06Q10/06

  Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title

• G07C5/0841 Primary

  Registering performance data (recording measured values G01D; information storage G11B) · CPC title

• B60W40/02

  related to ambient conditions · CPC title

• G07C5/008

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title