Self-Driving Vehicle Fleet Coordination via Rider Location Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Self-driving vehicles face challenges in efficiently transporting people due to limitations in performing tasks beyond basic steering, braking, and accelerating, which hinders their ability to provide efficient and timely service to riders.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle management system that includes a self-driving vehicle fleet and a computer system capable of communicating with a remote computing device, using location tracking and sensor data to determine the rider's location and movement, allowing the system to prompt the vehicles to drive to the rider's location for efficient pick-up and drop-off, even before a scheduled time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If self-driving vehicles only perform basic steering, braking, and accelerating tasks, then the vehicle control system remains simple, but the vehicle cannot provide efficient and timely transportation service to riders
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vehicle management system as an intermediary between riders and self-driving vehicles. This central system handles complex tasks including rider location tracking, vehicle assignment, route optimization, and coordination of multiple vehicles for pick-up and drop-off operations. By moving this complexity from individual vehicle control systems to a centralized management system, individual vehicles can maintain simpler control architectures while the overall system achieves high transportation efficiency through coordinated fleet management
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the transportation service system into separate functional components: (1) individual self-driving vehicles that perform basic driving tasks, (2) a vehicle management system that handles high-level coordination and decision-making, and (3) a location tracking system that monitors rider and vehicle positions. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific functions, maintaining simplicity at the vehicle level while achieving complex system-wide efficiency through the management system
2Loss of time
If the system waits for scheduled pick-up time to prompt vehicles, then vehicle dispatch timing remains simple, but rider wait times increase and service timeliness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by continuously tracking rider location and automatically detecting when riders return to the pick-up area before their scheduled pick-up time. The system proactively prompts vehicles to proceed to the pick-up location in advance, rather than waiting for the scheduled time or manual rider requests. This advance detection and automatic vehicle prompting reduces rider wait times while the centralized management system handles the coordination complexity
3Ease of operation
If riders must manually request rides, then the system requires minimal automation, but rider convenience and service quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the system to automatically detect rider location and return to the pick-up area without requiring manual rider requests. The location tracking system continuously monitors rider positions, and when a rider returns to the designated area, the vehicle management system automatically prompts an available vehicle to proceed to pick-up. This automation eliminates the need for riders to manually request rides, significantly improving convenience while the centralized system manages the automation complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle management system can include a self-driving vehicle and a computer system that is communicatively coupled with a remote computing device of a rider. The vehicle management system can include a location tracking system configured to receive a first location data indicative of a drop-off location where the self-driving vehicle dropped off the rider. The location tracking system can receive a second location data indicative of locations of the remote computing device during a period from after the self-driving vehicle fleet drops off the rider to before the self-driving vehicle fleet picks up the rider. The computer system can be configured to prompt the self-driving vehicle to drive to an area within 100 feet of the drop-off location to pick up the rider in response to determining that the second location data is indicative of the remote computing device having returned to the area after being dropped off.