Autonomous Vehicle Matching with Multi-User Offer Sequencing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) face idle time and reduced utilization due to user skepticism, leading to increased costs and inefficiencies in fleet management.
Innovation Solution
A service assignment system that implements multi-user matching by receiving job requests from users, matching them with AVs, and using serial or parallel offer arrangements to quickly reassign AVs to available job requests, thereby minimizing idle time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a user declines to have their transportation service executed by an AV, then the user's preference is respected, but the AV does not receive a match and may be re-matched with a different user at a subsequent matching cycle, increasing the idle time of the AV and reducing its utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by matching multiple users to a single AV before any user responds to the offer. This allows the AV to have multiple potential job requests ready, so if the first user declines, the AV can immediately be assigned to the second user without entering idle time, thus maintaining high utilization while still respecting user preferences.
2Device complexity
If the service assignment system uses traditional single-user matching, then the matching process is simple, but the AV experiences increased idle time and reduced utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary matching of multiple users to each AV before offers are sent out. This preliminary action creates a queue of pre-vetted users for each AV, eliminating the need for subsequent matching cycles if the first user declines, thereby reducing AV idle time without significantly increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges multiple user requests into a single matching operation, where multiple users are matched to one AV simultaneously. This combining approach allows the system to handle multiple potential assignments in one go, reducing the number of matching cycles needed and minimizing AV idle time.
3Productivity
If the service assignment system implements multi-user matching with serial or parallel offer arrangements, then AV utilization increases and idle time decreases, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the offer sending process into two distinct modes: serial offering (sending offers to users one at a time) and parallel offering (sending offers to multiple users simultaneously). This segmentation allows the system to manage complexity by providing clear, separate pathways for handling multiple user requests, making the system easier to implement and maintain while still achieving high AV utilization.
Data Source
AI summary
Various examples are directed to systems and methods for operating an autonomous vehicle. A matching cycle may be executed to match respective job requests of a plurality of job requests to at least one respective vehicle of a plurality of vehicles comprising the autonomous vehicle. A set of job requests may be selected from job requests that were matched to the autonomous vehicle during the matching cycle. Verification data may be received indicating that the autonomous vehicle is suitable for the set of job requests. A first offer message may be sent to a first user device associated with a first user making a first job request of the set of job requests. A reply message responsive to the first offer message may be received from the first user device. An instruction may be sent to the autonomous vehicle to begin executing a selected job from the set of job requests. The identity of the selected job may be based at least in part on the first reply message.