US 11,699,110 B2
Vehicle ride sharing system and method using smart modules
Pietro Buttolo, Dearborn Heights, MI (US); Stuart C. Salter, White Lake, MI (US); James Stewart Rankin, II, Novi, MI (US); James J. Surman, Clinton Township, MI (US); Annette Lynn Huebner, Highland, MI (US); Jeffrey A. Wallace, Walled Lake, MI (US); and Cornel Lewis Gardner, Romulus, MI (US)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Apr. 26, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/240,018.
Application 17/240,018 is a continuation of application No. 15/227,940, filed on Aug. 3, 2016, granted, now 11,599,833.
Prior Publication US 2021/0241188 A1, Aug. 5, 2021
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/02 (2012.01); G06Q 10/0631 (2023.01); G01C 21/34 (2006.01); G06Q 10/109 (2023.01)
CPC G06Q 10/02 (2013.01) [G01C 21/3438 (2013.01); G06Q 10/0631 (2013.01); G06Q 10/109 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computing system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to:
receive a transport reservation request comprising a pick-up location, a destination, and one or more transportation preferences of a next passenger, wherein the one or more transportation preferences comprise at least one of a vehicle equipment preference, a seating location preference, and a luggage preference of the next passenger, the luggage preference indicative of whether the next passenger intends to transport luggage;
receive, from a vehicle comprising an autonomous vehicle (AV), first data indicative of occupant location within the vehicle, the first data based on signals received from a first mobile device of a first passenger inside the vehicle;
based on the transport reservation request and the first data, match the next passenger to the vehicle;
based on a position of the first passenger within the vehicle, transmit second data indicative of the pick-up location such that an open seat within the vehicle is adjacent to the next passenger at the pick-up location or, if the one or more transportation preferences comprise the luggage preference indicating that the next passenger intends to transport luggage, such that a cargo area of the vehicle is adjacent to the next passenger at the pick-up location, wherein the second data is configured to cause the computing system of the AV to autonomously operate control mechanisms of the AV in order to position the open seat or the cargo area of the vehicle adjacent to the next passenger at the pick-up location.