Proximity-based shared transportation reservations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11880899-B2
Application number	US-201816979949-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2018
Priority date	Mar 19, 2018
Publication date	Jan 23, 2024
Grant date	Jan 23, 2024

Abstract

Various approaches allow for shared transportation reservations and related actions to be made based on a user's proximity to a shared transportation station. Data is received concerning the user's computing device, such as a vehicle, a mobile device, an internet-connected device, or a cellular network-connected device. Approaches can use a variety of data formats, including image data, location coordinates, or wirelessly-transmitted data. Based on such data and a criterion such as a threshold proximity to the station, the user's account status is determined and access to same authorized. Via the account, numerous actions may be taken, including automatically triggering a transport mode reservation or return, prompting the user to reserve or return the shared transportation, or debiting the user per a fee associated with the transportation reservation. Further, neural network techniques may be applied to train a model for generating related recommendations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving location coordinates associated with a geographic location of a computing device;
determining that the geographic location is within a threshold distance to a bicycle station, the bicycle station comprising a plurality of shared bicycles, a plurality of docking spots each configured to move between an unlocked position wherein a corresponding one of the plurality of shared bicycles is not maintained in the bicycle station, and a locked position wherein the corresponding one of the plurality of shared bicycles is maintained in the bicycle station, and a kiosk for moving at least one of the plurality of docking spots between the unlocked and locked positions;
receiving user identification information comprising sensor data automatically captured by one or more sensors at the bicycle station that includes a representation of a user;
analyzing the sensor data to determine a feature vector;
comparing the feature vector to a plurality of stored feature vectors;
determining a stored feature vector from the plurality of stored feature vectors that matches the feature vector to at least a threshold deviation, the stored feature vector associated with a registered user, the registered user associated with a user account of a service provider;
authorizing access to the user account;
triggering a transport mode reservation event in the user account; and
unlocking a first docking spot of the plurality of docking spots with the kiosk to automatically provide access to a first bicycle of the plurality of shared bicylces associated with the transport mode reservation event based at least in part on an automatic authentication procedure when the user is within a signal detection range associated with the bicycle station.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transport mode reservation event comprises at least one of: finalizing a transportation reservation, debiting the user account an amount associated with the transportation reservation event, or providing a notification to confirm a transport reservation or otherwise corresponding to the transport mode reservation event.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the notification is a prompt concerning at least one transportation reservation opportunity.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the location coordinates are Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transport mode reservation event comprises at least one of: finalizing a transportation reservation, debiting the user account an amount associated with the transport mode reservation event, or providing a notification to confirm a transport reservation or otherwise corresponding to the transport mode reservation event.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise (i) one or more cameras capable of capturing image data, (ii) one or more motion sensing devices capable of capturing movement data, or (iii) a combination thereof.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is at least one of:
a vehicle, a mobile device, an internet-connected device, or a cellular network-connected device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using a trained model to generate a recommendation for transport mode reservation events.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the trained model is trained using a neural network or machine learning.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the kiosk is configured to move each of the plurality of docking spots between the unlocked and locked positions.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the kiosk comprises a human-machine interface, a number of payment verification devices, a near-field communication reader, and one or more biometric identification devices.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the human-machine interface comprises a display, a keypad, a touchscreen, an audio output, a microphone, and a camera, wherein the number of payment verification devices comprises at least one of a coin- drop, a cash receptacle, and a magnetic card reader, and wherein the one or more biometric identification devices comprises a fingerprint recognition device.

13. A computing system, comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing system to:
receive location coordinates associated with a geographic location of a computing device;
determine that the geographic location is within a threshold distance to a bicycle station, the bicycle station comprising a plurality of shared bicycles, a plurality of docking spots each configured to move between an unlocked position wherein a corresponding one of the plurality of shared bicycles is not maintained in the bicycle station, and a locked position wherein the corresponding one of the plurality of shared bicycles is maintained in the bicycle station, and a kiosk for moving at least one of the plurality of docking spots between the unlocked and locked positions;
receive user identification information comprising sensor data automatically captured by one or more sensors at the bicycle station that includes a representation of a user;
analyze the sensor data to determine a feature vector;
compare the feature vector to a plurality of stored feature vectors;
determine a stored feature vector from the plurality of stored feature vectors that matches the feature vector to at least a threshold deviation, the stored feature vector associated with a registered user, the registered user associated with a user account of a service provider;
authorize access to the user account;
trigger a transport mode reservation event in the user account; and
unlock a first docking spot of the plurality of docking spots with the kiosk to automatically provide access to a first bicycle of the plurality of shared bicycles associated with the transport mode reservation event based at least in part on an automatic authentication procedure when the user is within a signal detection range associated with the bicycle station.

14. The computing system of claim 13 , wherein the transport mode reservation event comprises at least one of: finalizing a transportation reservation, debiting the user account an amount associated with the transport mode reservation event, or providing a notification to confirm a transport reservation or otherwise corresponding to the transport mode reservation event.

15. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving location coordinates associated with a geographic location of a computing device;
determining that the geographic location is within a threshold distance to a portable transport device station, the portable transport device station comprising a plurality of shared portable transport devices, a plurality of docking spots each configured to move between an unlocked position wherein a corresponding one of the plurality of portable transport devices is not maintained in the portable transport device station, and a locked position wherein the corresponding one of the plurality of portable transport devices is maintained in the portable transport device station, and a kiosk for moving at least one of the plurality of docking spots between the unlocked and locked positions;
receiving user identification information comprising sensor data automatically captured by one or more sensors

Assignees

• Ford Motor Co
• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Seagraves Jamel
• Tang Chih-Wei
• Aich Sudipto
• Kock Beaudry

Classifications

• G06Q50/30 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01C21/3438

  Rendezvous; Ride sharing · CPC title

• G06Q10/02

  Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events · CPC title

• H04W12/64 Primary

  using geofenced areas · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title