US 12,271,841 B2
Rideshare service fleet optimization using vehicle sensor data
Kunal Mehta, San Francisco, CA (US); Nikola Noxon, San Francisco, CA (US); Devina Jain, San Francisco, CA (US); Curt Patrick Harrington, Philadelphia, PA (US); Kelan Fitzgerald Stoy, Albany, CA (US); Edward Henry Forscher, Oakland, CA (US); and Michael John Mehallow, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to GM Cruise Holdings LLC, San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by GM Cruise Holdings LLC, San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Nov. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/538,435.
Prior Publication US 2023/0169421 A1, Jun. 1, 2023
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/06 (2023.01); B60W 40/08 (2012.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G06Q 10/0631 (2023.01); G06Q 50/40 (2024.01); G08G 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G06Q 10/06311 (2013.01) [B60W 40/08 (2013.01); B60W 60/00253 (2020.02); G05D 1/0291 (2013.01); G06Q 50/40 (2024.01); G08G 1/202 (2013.01); B60W 2540/041 (2020.02); B60W 2540/221 (2020.02)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving a rideshare service request from a user;
identifying a location of the user subsequent to receipt of the rideshare service request, wherein the rideshare service request designates a pick-up location different than the identified location of the user;
acquiring sensor data produced by sensors of a plurality of vehicles traversing an area including the identified location of the user, wherein the vehicles traversing the area comprise a subset of a fleet of vehicles for providing rideshare services;
processing the acquired sensor data to determine a category of the user, wherein the category of the user indicates that the user is traveling with at least one of a child and an animal;
selecting a vehicle from the fleet of vehicles based on the category of the user, wherein the selected vehicle is equipped with at least one accommodation corresponding to the category of the user;
alerting the user that the selected vehicle is equipped with the at least one accommodation corresponding to the category of the user;
sending by a controller a control signal to an onboard computer of the selected vehicle; and
maneuvering the selected vehicle, by the onboard computer, to the designated pick-up location based on the control signal, the onboard computer communicating with an interface of a vehicle control system of the selected vehicle and causing movement of the selected vehicle along a route to the designated pick-up location by the vehicle control system.