Mobile terminal system for autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023195106-A1
Application number	US-202218068092-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 19, 2022
Priority date	Dec 20, 2021
Publication date	Jun 22, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A mobile terminal system includes equipment used to establish a terminal site with at least one landing pad sized and shaped to accommodate an autonomous vehicle of a fleet. A control subsystem determines that an autonomous vehicle of the fleet is in-bound to the established terminal site. After determining the in-bound autonomous vehicle, landing instructions are determined that indicate a landing pad in which the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to stop and a route that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to travel along to reach the landing pad. The landing instructions are provided to the in-bound autonomous vehicle. The landing instructions cause the in-bound autonomous vehicle to travel along the route to the landing pad.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A mobile terminal system to operate a fleet of autonomous vehicles, the mobile terminal system comprising:
position delineators configured when deployed to establish a terminal site within a physical space, wherein the established terminal site comprises at least one landing pad sized and shaped to accommodate an autonomous vehicle of the fleet; and a control subsystem comprising a hardware processor configured to:
determine that an autonomous vehicle of the fleet is in-bound to the established terminal site;
after determining that the autonomous vehicle is in-bound to the established terminal site, determine landing instructions indicating a landing pad in which the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to stop and a route that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to travel along to reach the landing pad; and
provide the landing instructions to the in-bound autonomous vehicle, wherein the landing instructions cause the in-bound autonomous vehicle to travel along the route to the landing pad.

2 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein:
the control subsystem further comprises a set of sensors comprising a global positioning system transceiver operable to determine route data indicating an external route for the autonomous vehicles of the fleet to travel along to reach the established terminal site; and the hardware processor is further configured to provide the route data to at least one autonomous vehicle of the fleet.

3 . The mobile terminal system of claim 2 , wherein:
the hardware processor is further configured to receive instructions indicating that a new terminal site needs to be established; the global positioning system is operable to determine new route data indicating a new route for the autonomous vehicles of the fleet to travel along to reach the new terminal site; and the hardware processor is further configured to provide the new route data to the at least one autonomous vehicle of the fleet.

4 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to determine that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is in-bound to the established terminal site by receiving a landing request from the in-bound autonomous vehicle, the landing request comprising a request for the in-bound autonomous vehicle to be granted permission to stop at the landing pad of the established terminal site.

5 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to determine that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is on route to the established terminal site when one or both of the following are satisfied: (i) the in-bound autonomous vehicle is within threshold distance of the established terminal site and (ii) the in-bound autonomous vehicle is traveling along a known route to the established terminal site.

6 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein the landing instructions comprise at least one of a time during which the in-bound autonomous vehicle can enter the established terminal site, a route within the established terminal site that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to travel along to reach the landing pad, a location of the landing pad within the established terminal site, and an identifier of the landing pad.

7 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein:
the system further comprises one or more movement sensors that are deployed within the established terminal site; and the hardware processor is further configured to:
receive movement data from the one or more movement sensors indicating an amount of traffic within the established terminal site;
after receiving the movement data, determine updated landing instructions that cause the in-bound autonomous vehicle to avoid traffic while traveling to the landing pad; and
provide the updated landing instructions to the in-bound autonomous vehicle.

8 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein:
the system further comprises one or more occupancy sensors that are deployed in, on, or adjacent to the landing pad to determine whether the landing pad is occupied; and the hardware processor is further configured to:
receive occupancy data from the one or more occupancy sensors indicating that the landing pad is occupied;
after receiving the occupancy data, determine updated landing instructions that prevent the in-bound autonomous vehicle from entering the landing pad while the landing pad is occupied; and
provide the updated landing instructions to the in-bound autonomous vehicle.

9 . The mobile terminal system of claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:
determine that the in-bound autonomous vehicle has reached the landing pad; and after determining the in-bound autonomous vehicle has reached the landing pad, provide an alert to initiate post-landing activities.

10 . A method comprising:
establishing a terminal site within a physical space, wherein the established terminal site comprises at least one landing pad sized and shaped to accommodate an autonomous vehicle of a fleet; determining that an autonomous vehicle of the fleet is in-bound to the established terminal site; determining, after determining that the autonomous vehicle is in-bound to the established terminal site, landing instructions indicating a landing pad in which the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to stop and a route that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to travel along to reach the landing pad; and providing the landing instructions to the in-bound autonomous vehicle, wherein the landing instructions cause the in-bound autonomous vehicle to travel along the route to the landing pad.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining route data indicating an external route for the autonomous vehicles of the fleet to travel along to reach the established terminal site; and providing the route data to at least one autonomous vehicle of the fleet.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving instructions indicating that a new terminal site needs to be established; determining new route data indicating a new route for the autonomous vehicles of the fleet to travel along to reach the new terminal site; and providing the new route data to the at least one autonomous vehicle of the fleet.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is in-bound to the established terminal site by receiving a landing request from the in-bound autonomous vehicle, the landing request comprising a request for the in-bound autonomous vehicle to be granted permission to stop at the landing pad of the established terminal site.

14 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is on route to the established terminal site when one or both of the following are satisfied: (i) the in-bound autonomous vehicle is within threshold distance of the established terminal site and (ii) the in-bound autonomous vehicle is traveling along a known route to the established terminal site.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the landing instructions comprise at least one of a time during which the in-bound autonomous vehicle can enter the established terminal site, a route within the established terminal site that the in-bound autonomous vehicle is to travel along to reach the landing pad, a location of the landing pad within the established terminal site, and an identifier of the landing pad.

16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving movement data from one or more movement senso

Assignees

• Tusimple Inc

Inventors

• Siegler Erik Andrew
• Tam Joyce

Classifications

• G05D1/0278

  using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS · CPC title

• G05D2201/0213

  Physics · mapped topic

• G05D1/0214

  in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas (monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13) · CPC title

• G05D1/0027 Primary

  involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00) · CPC title

• G08G1/202

  Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching · CPC title