Automated vehicle seats

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12214698-B2
Application number	US-202318192348-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2023
Priority date	Aug 8, 2018
Publication date	Feb 4, 2025
Grant date	Feb 4, 2025

Abstract

Systems, methods, tangible non-transitory computer-readable media, and devices associated with the operation of a vehicle are provided. For example a vehicle computing system can receive occupancy data that includes information associated with occupancy of a vehicle that includes seats. One or more states of the vehicle can be determined. The states of the vehicle can include a disposition of any object that is within the vehicle. Further, a configuration of the seats in the vehicle can be determined based on the occupancy data and the states of the vehicle. The configuration can include a disposition of the seats inside the vehicle. Furthermore, at least one of the seats can be adjusted based on the configuration that was determined.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a plurality of seats; and
a vehicle computing system configured to:
receive, from a remote computing device, occupancy data indicative of a desired layout for the plurality of seats within the vehicle;
determine a seat configuration for the plurality of seats based on the occupancy data, wherein the seat configuration is associated with an orientation of a seat of the plurality of seats;
determine an order in which one or more passengers will enter or exit the vehicle; and
adjust, based on the order, the seat of the plurality of seats within the vehicle, wherein adjusting a seat of the plurality of seats is indicative of reconfiguring an interior of the vehicle based on the occupancy data.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle computing system is configured to:
determine one or more states of the vehicle, wherein the one or more states are indicative of a disposition a particular seat of the plurality of seats;
communicate, to the remote computing device, the one or more states of the vehicle, wherein the remote computing device modifies a particular state of the one or more states of the vehicle; and
receive, from the remote computing device, one or more updated states of the vehicle based on the remote computing device modifying the particular state of the one or more states.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the vehicle computing system is configured to determine a seat configuration for the plurality of seats based on the occupancy data and the one or more updated states of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the one or more states of the vehicle are indicative of at least one of (i) a number of passengers occupying the vehicle, or (ii) an article of cargo occupying the vehicle.

5. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the one or more updated states of the vehicle are indicative of a modified disposition of a particular seat of the plurality of seats.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle computing system is configured to adjust a seat of the plurality of seats within the vehicle by communicating one or more signals to adjust at least one of (i) a position of a respective seat of the plurality of seats, (ii) a location of a respective seat of the plurality of seats, or (iii) other portions of the interior of the vehicle.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the occupancy data is indicative of at least one of (i) a number of passengers to occupy the vehicle, or (ii) an article of cargo to occupy the vehicle.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the remote computing device is associated with a passenger of the vehicle.

9. A vehicle control system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory comprising one or more computer-readable media, the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a remote computing device, occupancy data indicative of a desired layout for a plurality of seats within a vehicle;
determining a seat configuration for the plurality of seats based on the occupancy data, wherein the seat configuration is associated with an orientation of a seat of the plurality of seats;
determining an order in which one or more passengers will enter or exit the vehicle; and
adjusting, based on the order, a seat of the plurality of seats within the vehicle, wherein the adjusting the seat of the plurality of seats is indicative of reconfiguring an interior of the vehicle based on the occupancy data.

10. The vehicle control system of claim 9 , wherein the operations comprise:
determining one or more states of the vehicle, wherein the one or more states are indicative of a disposition a particular seat of the plurality of seats;
communicating, to the remote computing device, the one or more states of the vehicle, wherein the remote computing device modifies a particular state of the one or more states of the vehicle; and
receiving, from the remote computing device, one or more updated states of the vehicle based on the remote computing device modifying the particular state of the one or more states.

11. The vehicle control system of claim 10 , wherein the operations comprise determining a seat configuration for the plurality of seats based on the occupancy data and the one or more updated states of the vehicle.

12. The vehicle control system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more states of the vehicle are indicative of at least one of (i) a number of passengers occupying the vehicle, or (ii) an article of cargo occupying the vehicle.

13. The vehicle control system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more updated states of the vehicle are indicative of a modified disposition of a particular seat of the plurality of seats.

14. The vehicle control system of claim 9 , wherein the operations comprise:
communicating one or more signals to adjust at least one of (i) a position of a respective seat of the plurality of seats, (ii) a location of a respective seat of the plurality of seats, or (iii) other portions of the interior of the vehicle.

15. The vehicle control system of claim 9 , wherein the occupancy data is indicative of at least one of (i) a number of passengers to occupy the vehicle, or (ii) an article of cargo to occupy the vehicle.

16. The vehicle control system of claim 9 , wherein the remote computing device is associated with a passenger of the vehicle.

17. An autonomous vehicle control system comprising:
one or more processors:
a memory comprising one or more computer-readable media, the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a remote computing device, occupancy data indicative of a desired layout for a plurality of seats within a vehicle;
determining a seat configuration for the plurality of seats based on the occupancy data, wherein the seat configuration is associated with an orientation of a seat of the plurality of seats;
determining an order in which one or more passengers will enter or exit the vehicle; and
adjusting, based on the order, a seat of a plurality of seats within the vehicle, wherein the adjusting the seat of the plurality of seats is indicative of reconfiguring an interior of the vehicle based on the occupancy data.

18. The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 17 , wherein the operations comprise:
determine one or more states of the vehicle, wherein the one or more states are indicative of a disposition a particular seat of the plurality of seats;
communicate, to the remote computing device, the one or more states of the vehicle, wherein the remote computing device modifies a particular state of the one or more states of the vehicle; and
receive, from the remote computing device, one or more updated states of the vehicle based on the remote computing device modifying the particular state of the one or more states.

19. The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 18 , wherein the operations comprise determining a seat configuration for the plurality of seats based on the occupancy data and the one or more updated states of the vehicle.

20. The autonomous vehicle control system of claim 18 , wherein the operations comprise determining a portion of one or more of the plurality of seats that will be visible to one or more passengers of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Aurora Operations Inc

Inventors

• D'Eramo Christopher Matthew
• Chan Nicolas Bryan
• Urbanski Janna

Classifications

• B60N2210/20

  Radar · CPC title

• B60N2210/40

  Force or pressure sensors · CPC title

• B60N2210/26

  Ultrasonic, e.g. sonar · CPC title

• B60N2210/24

  Cameras · CPC title

• B60N2220/20

  using a deterministic algorithm · CPC title