AV Pickup Routing Using In-Vehicle Passenger Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current on-demand transportation services lack intelligent coordination between matching, routing, and passenger positioning, leading to hazardous situations where passengers need to jaywalk or enter vehicles on busy streets during pick-up and drop-off.
Innovation Solution
A network computing system that tracks passenger positions within vehicles using sensor data from mobile devices and vehicle systems, optimizing routes and seat assignments to ensure safe, curbside pick-ups and drop-offs, even for autonomous vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If on-demand transportation services match users with transport providers based on location and estimated time of arrival, then transportation efficiency is improved, but passenger safety deteriorates due to hazardous pick-up and drop-off situations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary routing calculations and seat position assignments before the vehicle arrives at pick-up locations. The network computing system determines optimal routes and communicates them to transport providers in advance, allowing passengers to be positioned safely before vehicle arrival, thus preventing hazardous street crossings while maintaining efficient matching.
Solution Approach 2:
The network computing system acts as an intermediary between transport providers and passengers, coordinating routing information and seat position data. This intermediary role enables the system to optimize both transportation efficiency and safety by mediating the interaction between vehicle movement and passenger positioning, rather than allowing direct uncoordinated interactions.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the system coordinates routing and seat positions to ensure safe curbside pick-ups, then passenger safety is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network computing system performs multiple functions simultaneously: it matches users with transport providers, calculates optimal routes, determines seat positions, and coordinates pick-up/drop-off timing. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional system, the patent reduces overall system complexity compared to having separate specialized systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically determines routing information and seat positions without requiring manual intervention. Transport providers receive automated routing instructions and seat position assignments from the network computing system, enabling the system to self-manage the coordination complexity rather than requiring external orchestration.
3Ease of operation
If real-time sensor data is used to track passenger positions and optimize routing, then service quality is improved, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system processes sensor data selectively rather than continuously analyzing all available data. It focuses on specific parameters such as vehicle position, speed, and passenger seat occupancy that are directly relevant to routing optimization and safety coordination, reducing overall data processing requirements while maintaining high service quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A system receives sensor data from computing devices of passengers riding in an autonomous vehicle (AV). Based on the sensor data, the system can determine a position of each of the passengers within the AV. The system determines a next passenger to be picked up by the AV. Based at least in part on the position of each of the passengers within the AV, the system can (i) select a pickup location for the next passenger, and (ii) determine a route for the AV based on the pickup location such that an open seat within the AV is adjacent to the next passenger when the AV arrives at the pickup location for the next passenger. The system can transmit data corresponding to the route to enable the AV to update a current route in order to facilitate a rendezvous with the passenger at the pickup location.