Autonomous fleet service management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11367356-B1
Application number	US-202016820326-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 16, 2020
Priority date	Mar 16, 2020
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

Techniques discussed herein describe an example system for managing a fleet of vehicles. A server determines whether to provision a service for a vehicle based on telemetry data received from a telemetry module on the vehicle in a fleet of vehicles. The telemetry data includes a first location and status information of the vehicle. The server identifies a vendor to provide the service and directs the vehicle to a second location of the vendor from the first location of the vehicle. The server provides authorization to the vehicle for an on-board transaction module to initiate a request for the service when the vehicle is at the second location of the vendor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling autonomous vehicles, comprising:
determining, by a server configured to manage multiple vehicles in a fleet of autonomous vehicles, to provision a service for a vehicle in the fleet of autonomous vehicles based on telemetry data received from a telemetry module on the vehicle, the telemetry data including a first location of the vehicle and status information of the vehicle that is indicative of the vehicle's need for one or more services;
identifying, by the server, a vendor from a list of authorized vendors to provide the service to the vehicle based at least on the first location of the vehicle and a second location of the vendor;
directing, by the server, the vehicle to the second location of the vendor from the first location of the vehicle, wherein directing the vehicle to the second location of the vendor further comprises transmitting, over a network, one or more navigational data packets to the vehicle providing instructions for the vehicle to autonomously navigate to the second location; and
providing, by the server and to the vehicle, authorization for an on-board transaction module on the vehicle to initiate a financial transaction request with a point-of-sale device of the vendor for the service to be provided to the vehicle by the vendor when the vehicle is at the second location of the vendor, wherein the authorization to initiate the financial transaction comprises one of permission to use account information stored in the on-board transaction module or a one-time use token provided by the server and to the on-board transaction module, and wherein the point-of-sale device of the vendor uses one of the account information or the one-time use token to complete the financial transaction with a transaction gateway.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining to provision the service for the vehicle further comprises analyzing the telemetry data based on rules to determine whether the service of the one or more services is required by the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining to provision the service for the vehicle further comprises receiving a request for the service from the vehicle, the request based on the telemetry data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the permission to use the account information to initiate the financial transaction request for the service includes providing, by the server and to the vehicle, a key value that unlocks the account information stored in the on-board transaction module on the vehicle to initiate the financial transaction request with the point-of-sale device of the vendor.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the server and from the point-of-sale device of the vendor, a validation request for the financial transaction request initiated by the on-board transaction module on the vehicle with the point-of-sale device for the service to be provided to the vehicle by the vendor; and
in response to receiving the validation request from the point-of-sale device of the vendor, authorizing, by the server, the transaction gateway to complete the financial transaction initiated by the on-board transaction module on the vehicle with the point-of-sale device of the vendor for the service to be provided to the vehicle by the vendor.

6. A fleet management server for controlling autonomous vehicles, the server configured to manage multiple vehicles in a fleet of autonomous vehicles, the server comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors in communication with the memory and configured to:
determine to provision a service for a vehicle in the fleet of autonomous vehicles based on telemetry data received from a telemetry module on the vehicle, the telemetry data including a first location of the vehicle and status information of the vehicle that is indicative of the vehicle's need for one or more services;
identify a vendor from a list of authorized vendors to provide the service to the vehicle based at least on the first location of the vehicle and a second location of the vendor;
direct the vehicle to the second location of the vendor from the first location of the vehicle, wherein to direct the vehicle to the second location of the vendor, the one or more processors are configured to transmit, over a network interface, one or more navigational data packets to the vehicle to provide instructions for the vehicle to autonomously navigate to the second location; and
provide, to the vehicle, authorization for an on-board transaction module on the vehicle to initiate a financial transaction request with a point-of-sale device of the vendor for the service to be provided to the vehicle by the vendor when the vehicle is at the second location of the vendor, wherein the authorization to initiate the financial transaction comprises one of permission to use account information stored in the on-board transaction module or a one-time use token provided by the server and to the on-board transaction module, and wherein the point-of-sale device of the vendor uses one of the account information or the one-time use token to complete the financial transaction with a transaction gateway.

7. The server of claim 6 , wherein to determine to provision the service for the vehicle, the one or more processors are configured to analyze the telemetry data based on rules that determine whether the service of the one or more services is required by the vehicle.

8. The server of claim 6 , wherein to determine to provision the service for the vehicle, the one or more processors are configured to determine to provision the service in response a request for the service from the vehicle, the request based on the telemetry data.

9. The server of claim 6 , wherein to provide the permission to use the account information to initiate the financial transaction request, the one or more processors are configured to provide, to the vehicle, a key value that unlocks the account information stored in the on-board transaction module on the vehicle to initiate the financial transaction request with the point-of-sale device of the vendor.

10. The server of claim 6 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, from the point-of-sale device of the vendor, a validation request for the financial transaction request initiated by the on-board transaction module on the vehicle with the point-of-sale device for the service to be provided to the vehicle by the vendor; and
in response to receiving the validation request from the point-of-sale device of the vendor, authorize the transaction gateway to complete the financial transaction initiated by the on-board transaction module on the vehicle with the point-of-sale device of the vendor for the service to be provided to the vehicle by the vendor.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for controlling autonomous vehicles, the instructions, when executed, cause one or more processors of a fleet management server configured to manage multiple vehicles in a fleet of autonomous vehicles to:
determine to provision a service for a vehicle in the fleet of autonomous vehicles based on telemetry data received from a telemetry module on the vehicle, the telemetry data including a first location of the vehicle and status information of the vehicle that is indicative of the vehicle's need for one or more services;
identify a vendor from a list of authorized vendors to provide the service to the vehicle based at least on the first location of the vehicle and a second location of the vendor;
direct the vehicle to the second location of the vendor from the first location of the vehicle, wherein to direct the vehicle to the sec

Assignees

• Wells Fargo Bank Na

Inventors

• Ketharaju Rameshchandra Bhaskar

Classifications

• G06Q20/204

  comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit · CPC title

• G08G1/202 Primary

  Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching · CPC title

• B60W60/0025

  specially adapted for specific operations · CPC title

• G06Q20/385

  using an alias or single-use codes · CPC title