Systems and methods for routing personal mobility vehicles based on road conditions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11400830-B2
Application number	US-201816235699-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2018
Priority date	Jun 6, 2018
Publication date	Aug 2, 2022
Grant date	Aug 2, 2022

Abstract

The disclosed computer-implemented method may include routing personal mobility vehicles based on road or path conditions. In some embodiments, trip routing for personal mobility vehicles participating in a dynamic transportation network may leverage road condition map data gathered from personal mobility vehicle sensors to evaluate potential routes for personal mobility vehicles. In some examples, the method may account for the type and/or characteristics of the personal mobility vehicle when evaluating a potential route. In some examples, the method may account for user preferences when evaluating a potential route. The method may also make matching decisions for a dynamic transportation matching system and/or personal mobility vehicle distribution decisions for the dynamic transportation network based on the conditions of prospective routes. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
collecting, by a dynamic transportation matching system, information about a physical condition of a traversable path via at least one sensor-equipped device;
identifying, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a personal mobility vehicle that participates in a fleet of personal mobility vehicles managed by the dynamic transportation matching system, wherein the fleet of personal mobility vehicles comprises different types of personal mobility vehicles;
determining, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a potential route including the traversable path for the personal mobility vehicle to traverse during a trip that is facilitated by the dynamic transportation matching system;
determining, by the dynamic transportation matching system, to direct the personal mobility vehicle to traverse an alternate route instead of the potential route based on a type of the personal mobility vehicle; and
directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route instead of traversing the potential route, thereby avoiding the traversable path during the trip, based at least in part on the information about the physical condition of the traversable path and the type of the personal mobility vehicle to improve an allocation of the fleet of personal mobility vehicles.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the information about the physical condition of the traversable path comprises information about a safety of the traversable path for traversal by personal mobility vehicles, and wherein the different types of the personal mobility vehicles include electric bicycles and electric scooters.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route instead of the potential route comprises:
collecting, by the dynamic transportation matching system, information about a physical condition of an additional traversable path, wherein the alternate route comprises the additional traversable path; and
directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route during the trip based at least in part on the information about the physical condition of the additional traversable path.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route during the trip comprises directing a transportation requester device to traverse the additional traversable path during the trip via the personal mobility vehicle rather than directing the transportation requester device to an alternate mode of transportation for the trip.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the collecting, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the information about the physical condition of the traversable path via the at least one sensor-equipped device comprises collecting the information about the physical condition of the traversable path via at least one sensor-equipped personal mobility vehicle that participates in the fleet.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the collecting the information about the physical condition of the traversable path via the at least one sensor-equipped personal mobility vehicle that participates in the fleet comprises collecting data from an accelerometer of the at least one sensor-equipped personal mobility vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the collecting the information about the physical condition of the traversable path via the at least one sensor-equipped personal mobility vehicle that participates in the fleet comprises collecting data from a camera of the at least one sensor-equipped personal mobility vehicle.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route instead of the potential route during the trip comprises directing the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to avoid the traversable path based at least in part on a physical characteristic of the personal mobility vehicle.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route instead of the potential route during the trip comprises directing the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to avoid the traversable path based at least in part on a stored path condition preference of a transportation requester currently operating the personal mobility vehicle.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route instead of the potential route during the trip comprises placing the personal mobility vehicle at a location near the alternate route rather than at a location near the potential route in advance of usage of the personal mobility vehicle during the trip by at least one of:
sending a message to a transportation requester device that directs a transportation requester to transport the personal mobility vehicle to the location near the alternate route; or
sending a message to a transportation provider device that directs a transportation provider to transport the personal mobility vehicle to the location near the alternate route via an additional vehicle.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein directing, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the device associated with the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route instead of the potential route comprises activating a display feature of the personal mobility vehicle to direct a current operator of the personal mobility vehicle to traverse the alternate route.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the traversable path comprises a designated road lane for personal mobility vehicles; and
the information about the physical condition of the traversable path comprises information about at least one of a width of the designated road lane or a physical separation between the designated road lane and a road lane designated for lane-constrained vehicles.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the information about the physical condition of the traversable path comprises information about a physical surface of the traversable path.

14. A dynamic transportation matching system comprising:
a non-transitory memory; and
one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the dynamic transportation matching system to perform operations comprising:
collecting information about a physical condition of a traversable path via at least one sensor-equipped device;
identifying a personal mobility vehicle that participates in a fleet of personal mobility vehicles managed by the dynamic transportation matching system, wherein the fleet of personal mobility vehicles comprises different types of personal mobility vehicles;
determining a potential route including the traversable path for the personal mobility vehicle to tra

Assignees

• Lyft Inc

Inventors

• Whitt Carlos Ellis
• Martisauskas Steven James
• Levi Dor

Classifications

• G01C21/20

  Instruments for performing navigational calculations (G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence) · CPC title

• G07C5/004

  Indicating the operating range of the engine (economical driving B60R16/0236, F02B77/084; measuring liquid fuel of an engine G01F9/00) · CPC title

• B60W2710/18

  Braking system · CPC title

• B60W2300/365

  Scooters · CPC title

• B60Q1/346

  with automatic actuation · CPC title