Systems and methods for unmanned positioning and delivery of rental vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11620694-B2
Application number	US-202017077584-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2020
Priority date	Jul 28, 2017
Publication date	Apr 4, 2023
Grant date	Apr 4, 2023

Abstract

A managing apparatus for positioning rental vehicles includes a memory storing instructions and a processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the managing apparatus to access model information and location information for a plurality of autonomous vehicles, receive a request including a delivery location and a chosen model for renting, select an autonomous vehicle of the chosen model from among the plurality of autonomous vehicles based on the model information, the location information, and the delivery location, instruct the selected autonomous vehicle to fully-autonomously or semi-autonomously travel to the delivery location, and instruct the selected autonomous vehicle to switch to manual operation mode at the delivery location for manual operation by a vehicle rental customer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
accessing model information and location information for a plurality of transportation devices, wherein the plurality of transportation device include autonomous transportation devices and non-autonomous transportation devices;
receiving a request including a delivery location and a chosen model for renting;
selecting a transportation device of the chosen model from among the plurality of transportation devices based on the model information, the location information, and the delivery location;
determining whether the selected transportation device is an autonomous transportation device or a non-autonomous transportation device; and
based on determining that the selected transportation device is an autonomous transportation device:
instructing the selected transportation device to fully-autonomously or semi-autonomously travel to the delivery location;
instructing the selected transportation device to switch to a manual operation mode at the delivery location for manual operation by a rental customer; and
instructing the selected transportation device to switch to a fully-autonomous or a semi-autonomous navigation mode in response to obtaining a rental completion indication.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving an occupied status from the selected transportation device indicating that a human driver has occupied the selected transportation device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein instructing the selected transportation device to switch to the manual operation mode includes instructing the selected transportation device to switch to the manual operation mode in response to the occupied status.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
authenticating the rental customer to access the selected transportation device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein based on determining that the selected transportation device is a non-autonomous transportation device, the method further comprising:
determining whether the selected transportation device is secured within a parking station or is secured within one or more robot devices.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein based on determining that the selected transportation device is secured within the parking station, the method further comprising:
selecting, based on the location information, a robot device to obtain the selected transportation device within the parking station; and
controlling the selected robot device to obtain the selected transportation device within the parking station and to deliver the selected transportation device to the delivery location.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
authenticating the rental customer to access the selected transportation device.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein based on determining that the selected transportation device is secured within one or more robot devices, the method further comprising:
selecting, based on the location information, a robot device of the one or more robot devices; and
controlling the selected robot device to deliver the selected transportation device to the delivery location.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
authenticating the rental customer to access the selected transportation device.

10. An apparatus comprising:
a memory storing instructions; and
a processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:
access model information and location information for a plurality of transportation devices, wherein the plurality of transportation device include autonomous transportation devices and non-autonomous transportation devices;
receive a request including a delivery location and a chosen model for renting;
select a transportation device of the chosen model from among the plurality of transportation devices based on the model information, the location information, and the delivery location;
determine whether the selected transportation device is an autonomous transportation device or a non-autonomous transportation device; and
based on determining that the selected transportation device is an autonomous transportation device:
instruct the selected transportation device to fully-autonomously or semi-autonomously travel to the delivery location;
instruct the selected transportation device to switch to a manual operation mode at the delivery location for manual operation by a rental customer; and
instruct the selected transportation device to switch to a fully-autonomous or a semi-autonomous navigation mode in response to obtaining a rental completion indication.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor executes the instructions to further cause the apparatus to:
receive an occupied status from the selected transportation device indicating that a human driver has occupied the selected transportation device, wherein instructing the selected transportation device to switch to the manual operation mode includes instructing the selected transportation device to switch to the manual operation mode in response to the occupied status.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor executes the instructions to further cause the apparatus to:
authenticate the rental customer to access the selected transportation device.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein based on determining that the selected transportation device is a non-autonomous transportation device, the processor executes the instructions to further cause the apparatus to:
determine whether the selected transportation device is secured within a parking station or is secured within one or more robot devices.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein based on determining that the selected transportation device is secured within the parking station, the processor executes the instructions to further cause the apparatus to:
select, based on the location information, a robot device to obtain the selected transportation device within the parking station; and
control the selected robot device to obtain the selected transportation device within the parking station and to deliver the selected transportation device to the delivery location.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein based on determining that the selected transportation device is secured within one or more robot devices, the processor executes the instructions to further cause the apparatus to:
select, based on the location information, a robot device of the one or more robot devices; and
control the selected robot device to deliver the selected transportation device to the delivery location.

16. One or more non-transitory computer storage media including instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, comprising:
accessing model information and location information for a plurality of transportation devices, wherein the plurality of transportation device include autonomous transportation devices and non-autonomous transportation devices;
receiving a request including a delivery location and a chosen model for renting;
selecting a transportation device of the chosen model from among the plurality of transportation devices based on the model information, the location information, and the delivery location;
determining whether the selected transportation device is an autonomous transportation device or a non-autonomous transportation device; and
based on determining that the selected transportation device is an autonomous transportation device:
instructing the selected transportation device to fully-autonomously or semi-autonomously travel t

Assignees

• Nuro Inc

Inventors

• Ferguson David
• Zhu Jiajun
• Leipold Cosimo

Classifications

• G05D1/651

  with controlled time of arrival at target points, e.g. 4D navigation · CPC title

• G05D1/2235

  involving the operator tracking the vehicle by direct line of sight · CPC title

• G05D1/6445

  for optimising payload operation, e.g. camera or spray coverage · CPC title

• G05D1/2247

  providing the operator with simple or augmented images from one or more cameras · CPC title

• G05D2101/10

  using artificial intelligence [AI] techniques · CPC title