Systems and methods for configuring personal mobility vehicle brakes based on location

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12371124-B2
Application number	US-202318497458-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2023
Priority date	Aug 15, 2019
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

The disclosed method may include configuring one or more brakes based on a braking-related attribute expected at a geographic location being traversed by a personal mobility vehicle. By configuring the application of brakes of a personal mobility vehicle based on terrain, environmental conditions, and other geographic features, the system may reduce the risk of the vehicle skidding or tipping due to over-braking. In some embodiments, a rider may use a single brake lever to indicate a desire to brake and the system may make determinations about how to apply a combination of mechanical and electrical brakes to front and back wheels based at least in part on the location of the personal mobility vehicle. By configuring brake engagement based on a combination of controls and map data, the system may improve user experience and user safety, especially for inexperienced riders.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining, by a personal mobility vehicle equipped with a braking system and used by a rider, a road condition associated with a geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle;
determining, based on previously collected riding data of the rider, a riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition;
determining, in response to the determination of the riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition, one or more optimized operations for the personal mobility vehicle based on previously collected riding data of the rider or one or more other riders;
determining a configuration of the braking system based at least in part on the one or more optimized operations for the personal mobility vehicle; and
engaging the braking system of the personal mobility vehicle using the configuration while traversing the geographic location associated with the road condition.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the road condition associated with the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle corresponds to a first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the road condition associated with the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle comprises determining the first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle comprises ground slope, ground surface type, surface condition, expected weather, or nearby obstacle density associated with the geographic location.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle further comprises a dynamic attribute that is intermittently present at the geographic location.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising storing one or more records to a reaction database associated with one or more reactions of the rider to the first braking-related attribute, wherein each of the one or more records comprise the first braking-related attribute and an input of the rider to the braking system.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition comprises retrieving, from the reaction database, one or more records associated with previous reactions of the rider to second braking-related attributes, wherein differences of the second braking-related attributes from the first braking-related attribute are within a pre-determined threshold.

8. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
identifying a front wheel braking system and a rear wheel braking system; and
determining a distribution differential between the front wheel braking system and the rear wheel braking system based at least in part on the first braking-related attribute.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rider has a first characteristics, wherein the one or more other riders have second characteristics, and wherein differences between the first characteristics and the second characteristics are within a pre-determined threshold.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein characteristics comprise demographics or riding behavior.

11. The method of claim 1 , determining the one or more optimized operations for the personal mobility vehicle comprises determining one or more operations that compensate the riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more optimized operations for the personal mobility vehicle comprises reducing an engagement of a front brake on a downhill slope in response to a determination that the rider has historically over-engaged the front brake on downhill slopes.

13. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory memory comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
determining, by a personal mobility vehicle equipped with a braking system and used by a rider, a road condition associated with a geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle;
determining, based on previously collected riding data of the rider, a riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition;
determining, in response to the determination of the riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition, one or more optimized operations for the personal mobility vehicle based on previously collected riding data of the rider or one or more other riders;
determining a configuration of the braking system based at least in part on the one or more optimized operations for the personal mobility vehicle; and
engaging the braking system of the personal mobility vehicle using the configuration while traversing the geographic location associated with the road condition.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the road condition associated with the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle corresponds to a first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein determining the road condition associated with the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle comprises determining the first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle comprises ground slope, ground surface type, surface condition, expected weather, or nearby obstacle density associated with the geographic location.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first braking-related attribute that impacts braking at the geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle further comprises a dynamic attribute that is intermittently present at the geographic location.

18. The system of claim 15 , further comprising storing one or more records to a reaction database associated with one or more reactions of the rider to the first braking-related attribute, wherein each of the one or more records comprise the first braking-related attribute and an input of the rider to the braking system.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein determining the riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition comprises retrieving, from the reaction database, one or more records associated with previous reactions of the rider to second braking-related attributes, wherein differences of the second braking-related attributes from the first braking-related attribute are within a pre-determined threshold.

20. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by a user computing device to perform operations comprising:
determining, by a personal mobility vehicle equipped with a braking system and used by a rider, a road condition associated with a geographic location of the personal mobility vehicle;
determining, based on previously collected riding data of the rider, a riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition;
determining, in response to the determination of the riding behavior of the rider associated with the road condition, one or more optimized operations for the p

Assignees

• Lyft Inc

Inventors

• Levi Dor
• Whitt Carlos Ellis
• Walpole John Peter
• Lubinski Nicholaus Ian
• Martisauskas Steven James
• Van Houten Lucas Jon
• Vandenbussche Gregoire Ludovic Vincent

Classifications

• B62L3/06

  Means for locking the actuating mechanisms (locking a cycle braking device directly B62H5/18) · CPC title

• G06K19/022

  Processes or apparatus therefor · CPC title

• B62L5/20

  the brakes having adjustable braking power · CPC title

• G06K19/041

  Constructional details (G06K19/06 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B62K3/00

  Bicycles · CPC title