US-12620047-B2 - Systems and methods for matching autonomous transportation provider vehicles and transportation requests in transportation management systems

Abstract

The disclosed computer-implemented method may determine one or more characteristics of an autonomous vehicle, determine one or more characteristics of one or more road segments of a geographic area, determine at least one geographic zone for the autonomous vehicle within the geographic area based at least on the characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the characteristics of the one or more road segments of the at least one geographic area, and match a request with the autonomous vehicle within the at least one geographic zone based at least in part on a request location and a destination location of the request being associated with the at least one geographic zone. Other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are disclosed.

Inventors

• Jessica Yunan Chen
• Gavin Sebastian Hurley
• Leighton Kamaile Jen
• Jonathan Patrick O'keefe
• Oleg Vadim Panichev
• Robert Earl Rasmusson, JR.
• John Tighe
• Alexis Weill
• Adam Alexander Wolf

Assignees

• Lyft, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20221108

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a transportation management system from a transportation requestor device, a transportation request comprising at least a pickup location and a drop-off location; determining, by the transportation management system, that the pickup location and the drop-off location are situated within at least one geographic zone in which an autonomous vehicle and at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services, wherein: the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are trained to travel to at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location such that driving maneuvers performed by the autonomous vehicle are based on the training level of the autonomous vehicle; and at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is determined based on the training level of the autonomous vehicle; determining, by the transportation management system, that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different authorization levels to traverse at least one route within the at least one geographic zone, wherein an authorization level comprises a regulatory restriction updated by a government authority; matching, by the transportation management system, the transportation request with the autonomous vehicle based on a first authorization level of the autonomous vehicle and a second authorization level of the at least one other autonomous vehicle to traverse the at least one route, wherein the first authorization level indicates that the at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is traversable by the autonomous vehicle based on a regulatory restriction and the training level of the autonomous vehicle to perform driving maneuvers to the pickup location or the drop-off location and wherein the second authorization level indicates that the at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is non-traversable by the at least one other autonomous vehicle based on a regulatory restriction and a training level of the at least one other autonomous vehicle to perform driving maneuvers to the pickup location or the drop-off location; and instructing, by the transportation management system, the autonomous vehicle to travel to the pickup location of the transportation request along the at least one route, such that the matching improves an efficiency of the autonomous vehicle and an efficiency of the transportation management system.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services in the at least one geographic zone by: identifying one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle; identifying one or more respective characteristics of one or more respective road segments of the at least one geographic zone; and determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services within the at least one geographic zone based on the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle, the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle, and the one or more characteristics of the one or more road segments of the at least one geographic zone.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle are based at least on one or more capabilities of the autonomous vehicle and one or more capabilities of the at least one other autonomous vehicle associated with providing transportation services within the at least one geographic zone.
4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more capabilities of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more capabilities of the at least one other autonomous vehicle include at least one of: a capability of driving on the one or more road segments of the at least one geographic zone; a capability to pick up transportation requestors at pickup locations; a capability to drop off transportation requestors at drop-off locations; or a capability to perform specified driving maneuvers.
5. 5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different authorization levels to traverse the at least one route within the at least one geographic zone comprises determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different capabilities, wherein the different capabilities indicate that at least one of: the pickup location is accessible to the autonomous vehicle and is inaccessible to the at least one other autonomous vehicle; or the drop-off location is accessible to the autonomous vehicle and is inaccessible to the at least one other autonomous vehicle.
6. 6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining that the pickup location and the drop-off location are situated within the at least one geographic zone comprises determining that the pickup location and the drop-off location are compatible with the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle.
7. 7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle include at least one of: a capability level to perform driving maneuvers; a capability level to traverse the at least one route within the at least one geographic zone; the first authorization level to traverse the at least one route within the at least one geographic zone; the second authorization level to traverse the at least one route within the at least one geographic zone; or a level of access to capability data associated with the autonomous vehicle or the at least one other autonomous vehicle, and wherein the level of access to capability data is determined by a manufacturer of the autonomous vehicle or by a manufacturer of the at least one other autonomous vehicle.
8. 8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the one or more road segments of the at least one geographic zone include at least one of: a route of travel within the at least one geographic zone; a weather condition within the at least one geographic zone; a density of vehicle traffic within the at least one geographic zone; a density of pedestrian traffic within the at least one geographic zone; or a condition of traffic control devices within the at least one geographic zone.
9. 9 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services in the at least one geographic zone comprises determining that the at least one geographic zone is accessible to a type of vehicle of the autonomous vehicle and a type of vehicle of the at least one other autonomous vehicle.
10. 10 . The method of claim 2 , wherein matching the transportation request with the autonomous vehicle is further based on comparing the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle.
11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: matching the transportation request with the autonomous vehicle is further based on a characteristic of the transportation request; and the characteristic of the transportation request includes at least one of: a value associated with the transportation request; the pickup location of the transportation request; the drop-off location of the transportation request; a number of passengers associated with the transportation request; or a time of day associated with the transportation request.
12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein instructing the autonomous vehicle to travel to the pickup location of the transportation request comprises electronically transmitting at least one of: the transportation request; the pickup location; the drop-off location; or the at least one route that the autonomous vehicle is authorized to traverse.
13. 13 . A transportation management system comprising one or more physical processors and one or more memories in communication with the one or more physical processors, the one or more memories comprising instructions operable when executed by the one or more physical processors to cause the system to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a transportation management system from a transportation requestor device, a transportation request comprising at least a pickup location and a drop-off location; determining, by the transportation management system, that the pickup location and the drop-off location are situated within at least one geographic zone in which an autonomous vehicle and at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services, wherein: the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are trained to travel to at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location such that driving maneuvers performed by the autonomous vehicle are based on the training level of the autonomous vehicle; and at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is determined based on the training level of the autonomous vehicle; determining, by the transportation management system, that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different authorization levels to traverse at least one route within the at least one geographic zone, wherein an authorization level comprises a regulatory restriction updated by a government authority; matching, by the transportation management system, the transportation request with the autonomous vehicle based on a first authorization level of the autonomous vehicle and a second authorization level of the at least one other autonomous vehicle to traverse the at least one route, wherein the first authorization level indicates that the at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is traversable by the autonomous vehicle based on a regulatory restriction and the training level of the autonomous vehicle to perform driving maneuvers to the pickup location or the drop-off location and wherein the second authorization level indicates that the at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is non-traversable by the at least one other autonomous vehicle based on a regulatory restriction and a training level of the at least one other autonomous vehicle to perform driving maneuvers to the pickup location or the drop-off location; and instructing, by the transportation management system, the autonomous vehicle to travel to the pickup location of the transportation request along the at least one route, such that the matching improves an efficiency of the autonomous vehicle and an efficiency of the transportation management system.
14. 14 . The transportation management system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more physical processors further cause the transportation management system to perform operations comprising determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services in the at least one geographic zone by: identifying one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle; identifying one or more respective characteristics of one or more respective road segments of the at least one geographic zone; and determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services within the at least one geographic zone based on the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle, the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle, and the one or more characteristics of the one or more road segments of the at least one geographic zone.
15. 15 . The transportation management system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more physical processors further cause the transportation management system to perform operations comprising comparing the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle with the one or more characteristics of the one or more road segments of the at least one geographic zone, wherein determining that the autonomous vehicle is capable of navigating within the geographic zone is based on a comparison of the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle with the one or more characteristics of the one or more road segments of the geographic zone.
16. 16 . The transportation management system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle are based at least on one or more capabilities of the autonomous vehicle and one or more capabilities of the at least one other autonomous vehicle associated with providing transportation services within the at least one geographic zone.
17. 17 . The transportation management system of claim 16 , wherein determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different authorization levels to traverse the at least one route within the at least one geographic zone comprises determining that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different capabilities, wherein the different capabilities indicate that at least one of: the pickup location is accessible to the autonomous vehicle and is inaccessible to the at least one other autonomous vehicle; or the drop-off location is accessible to the autonomous vehicle and is inaccessible to the at least one other autonomous vehicle.
18. 18 . The transportation management system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the autonomous vehicle and the one or more characteristics of the at least one other autonomous vehicle include a level of access the transportation management system has to capability data associated with the autonomous vehicle or the at least one other autonomous vehicle, and wherein determining that the autonomous vehicle or the at least one other autonomous vehicle is authorized to provide transportation services in the at least one geographic zone is based on the level of access to capability data.
19. 19 . The transportation management system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more physical processors further cause the transportation management system to perform operations comprising: matching the transportation request with the autonomous vehicle is further based on a characteristic of the transportation request; and the characteristic of the transportation request includes at least one of: a value associated with the transportation request; the pickup location of the transportation request; the drop-off location of the transportation request; a number of passengers associated with the transportation request; or a time of day associated with the transportation request.
20. 20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to: receive, by a transportation management system from a transportation requestor device, a transportation request comprising at least a pickup location and a drop-off location; determine, by the transportation management system, that the pickup location and the drop-off location are situated within at least one geographic zone in which an autonomous vehicle and at least one other autonomous vehicle are authorized to provide transportation services, wherein: the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle are trained to travel to at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location such that driving maneuvers performed by the autonomous vehicle are based on the training level of the autonomous vehicle; and at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is determined based on the training level of the autonomous vehicle; determine, by the transportation management system, that the autonomous vehicle and the at least one other autonomous vehicle have different authorization levels to traverse at least one route within the at least one geographic zone, wherein an authorization level comprises a regulatory restriction updated by a government authority; match, by the transportation management system, the transportation request with the autonomous vehicle based on a first authorization level of the autonomous vehicle and a second authorization level of the at least one other autonomous vehicle to traverse the at least one route, wherein the first authorization level indicates that the at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is traversable by the autonomous vehicle based on a regulatory restriction and the training level of the autonomous vehicle to perform driving maneuvers to the pickup location or the drop-off location and wherein the second authorization level indicates that the at least one of the pickup location or the drop-off location is non-traversable by the at least one other autonomous vehicle based on a regulatory restriction and a training level of the at least one other autonomous vehicle to perform driving maneuvers to the pickup location or the drop-off location; and instruct, by the transportation management system, the autonomous vehicle to travel to the pickup location of the transportation request along the at least one route, such that the matching improves an efficiency of the autonomous vehicle and an efficiency of the transportation management system.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/368,848, filed 28 Mar. 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated, in its entirety, by this reference. BACKGROUND Some transportation services may provide transportation on demand, drawing from a transportation provider supply pool to meet the needs of those requesting transportation services as the needs arise. The transportation provider supply pool may include autonomous transportation provider vehicles. However, technology for autonomous transportation provider vehicles is rapidly evolving and fulfilling requests by arbitrarily matching available autonomous transportation provider vehicles with pending transportation requests may result in wasted transportation supply resources, an unacceptable fluctuation in the level of available autonomous transportation provider vehicles, increased transportation time, or other suboptimal results. For example, certain autonomous transportation provider vehicles may be better suited to providing certain transportation services better than other autonomous transportation provider vehicles and a transportation service may experience transportation requests for autonomous transportation provider vehicles in a geographic region that is unable to support transportation services by certain autonomous transportation provider vehicles. The performance of an on-demand transportation service may depend on properly determining the suitability of providing transportation services using autonomous transportation provider vehicles in certain geographic zones. Accordingly, decisions about when and how to match a transportation service request with an autonomous transportation provider vehicle within a geographic zone may pose trade-offs for on-demand transportation services and consumers of on-demand transportation services. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of exemplary embodiments and are a part of the specification. Together with the following description, these drawings demonstrate and explain various principles of the instant disclosure. FIG. 1 is an illustration of transportation requestors and autonomous transportation provider vehicles in a geographic area. FIG. 2 is an illustration of designated pickup and drop-off locations associated with autonomous transportation provider vehicles in a geographic area. FIG. 3 is an illustration of geographic zones designated for autonomous transportation provider vehicle travel in a geographic area. FIG. 4 is an illustration of driving maneuver capabilities of autonomous transportation provider vehicles. FIG. 5 is an illustration of designated pickup and drop-off locations associated with autonomous transportation provider vehicles. FIG. 6 is an illustration of travel routes for autonomous transportation provider vehicles and transportation requestors. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example system for matching autonomous transportation provider vehicles and transportation requests in transportation management systems. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example system for normalizing autonomous transportation provider vehicle characteristic data. FIG. 9 is an illustration of an environment for route training of autonomous transportation provider vehicles. FIG. 10 is an illustration of an example method for providing a transportation service match to a transportation requestor device. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example method for matching an autonomous transportation provider vehicle and a transportation request in a transportation management system. FIG. 12 is an illustration of an example transportation requestor/transportation provider management environment. FIG. 13 is an illustration of an example data collection and application management system. Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptions indicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While the exemplary embodiments described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, the exemplary embodiments described herein are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the instant disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure is generally directed to matching autonomous transportation provider vehicles and transportation requests in transportation management systems. Matching decisions between transportation requests and autonomous transportation provider vehicles in geographic areas may affect transportation service satisfaction levels of transportation requesters and value creation for transportation management systems. Autonomous transportation services may creat