US-12626516-B2 - Situational awareness systems and methods and micromobility platform

Abstract

A system for providing situational awareness to a cyclist or other user of a micromobility vehicle comprises a stereo camera assembly and processing logic configured to determine, based on images acquired by the stereo camera assembly, a distance between the cyclist and an object of interest (e.g., a vehicle). The system is configured to determine a threat level of the object based one or more factors such as, e.g., a speed of the object and/or a category of the object. In some examples, the system includes a display and/or an audio indicator to convey information to the cyclist about detected threats. In some examples, the system is configured to produce an audio indication in response to a threat exceeding a threshold threat level. A software platform may be configured to store and/or process micromobility data gathered from one or more users.

Inventors

• Brian Medower
• Harold Russell

Assignees

• Velios Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240709

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A computer-implemented method for improving micromobility vehicle travel, the method comprising: collecting, from a plurality of computing devices each traveling with a respective micromobility vehicle in a same geographic area, data reflecting hazardous conditions encountered by the corresponding micromobility vehicle at respective locations; determining, based on the collected data, respective hazard levels of each of the locations; and generating, based on the determined hazard levels, a map of at least a portion of the geographic area, wherein the map includes hazard information based on the determined hazard levels of the locations; wherein, for at least one of the micromobility vehicles, the data reflecting hazardous conditions includes data reflecting one or more instances in which a second vehicle was within a predetermined distance of the micromobility vehicle; and wherein the one or more instances include at least one instance in which, during a predetermined interval of time: the second vehicle was within the predetermined distance of the micromobility vehicle on a first side of the micromobility vehicle, and an object was within a second predetermined distance of the micromobility vehicle on a second side of the micromobility vehicle.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the map includes generating a first route between a start point and an end point, and the first route includes one or more of the locations.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the map further includes generating a second route between the start point and the end point, and the second route includes one or more of the locations, such that the hazard information includes hazard information associated with the first route and hazard information associated with the second route.
4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the hazard information includes a respective indication of hazard level at each portion of the first route and at each portion of the second route.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the data reflecting the one or more instances includes sensing a distance between the micromobility vehicle and the second vehicle using a sensor of the computing device.
6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hazard levels are further based on one or more of the following: surface condition of a roadway, roadway geometry affecting visibility, fixed objects affecting visibility, transient visibility, weather condition, or solar alignment with a user's route of travel.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the map based on updated information from the plurality of computing devices.
8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein updating the map includes updating the map in real time.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the map at a display of one of the computing devices.
10. 10 . A data-processing system comprising: one or more processors; a memory; a plurality of instructions stored in the memory, wherein the plurality of instructions is executable by the one or more processors to: receive, from a plurality of computing devices each traveling with a respective micromobility vehicle in a same geographic area, data reflecting hazardous conditions encountered by the corresponding micromobility vehicle at respective locations; determine, based on the received data, respective hazard levels of each of the locations; and generate, based on the determined hazard levels, a map of at least a portion of the geographic area, wherein the map includes hazard information based on the determined hazard levels of the locations; wherein, for at least one of the micromobility vehicles, the data reflecting hazardous conditions includes data reflecting one or more instances in which a second vehicle was within a predetermined distance of the micromobility vehicle; and wherein the one or more instances include at least one instance in which, during a predetermined interval of time: the second vehicle was within the predetermined distance of the micromobility vehicle on a first side of the micromobility vehicle, and an object was within a second predetermined distance of the micromobility vehicle on a second side of the micromobility vehicle.
11. 11 . The data-processing system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions is further executable by the one or more processors to cause the map to be displayed at a display of one of the computing devices of the plurality of computing devices.
12. 12 . The data-processing system of claim 10 , wherein generating the map includes generating a first route between a start point and an end point, and the first route includes one or more of the locations.
13. 13 . The data-processing system of claim 12 , wherein generating the map further includes generating a second route between the start point and the end point, and the second route includes one or more of the locations, such that the hazard information includes hazard information associated with the first route and hazard information associated with the second route.
14. 14 . The data-processing system of claim 13 , wherein the hazard information includes a respective indication of hazard level at each portion of the first route and at each portion of the second route.
15. 15 . The data-processing system of claim 10 , wherein the data reflecting the one or more instances includes a sensed distance between the micromobility vehicle and the second vehicle, the sensed distance being sensed by a sensor of the computing device traveling with the micromobility vehicle.
16. 16 . The data-processing system of claim 10 , wherein the hazard levels are further based on one or more of the following: surface condition of a roadway, roadway geometry affecting visibility, fixed objects affecting visibility, transient visibility, weather condition, or solar alignment with a user's route of travel.
17. 17 . The data-processing system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions is further executable by the one or more processors to update the map based on updated information from the plurality of computing devices.
18. 18 . The data-processing system of claim 17 , wherein updating the map includes updating the map in real time.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES The following applications and materials are incorporated herein, in their entireties, for all purposes: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/469,210, filed Sep. 18, 2023; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/488,112, filed Mar. 2, 2023; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/382,631, filed Nov. 7, 2022; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/376,227, filed Sep. 19, 2022. FIELD This disclosure relates to systems and methods involving micromobility (e.g., the use of relatively small personal vehicles such as bicycles, e-bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, and/or the like) and to systems and methods for obtaining and providing information about a cyclist's (or other suitable micromobility user's) surroundings. INTRODUCTION Situational awareness is important for a cyclist riding a bicycle, particularly when riding in areas also used by motor vehicles, other cyclists, pedestrians, and/or the like. Without an awareness of other objects or people in their vicinity, a cyclist risks experiencing a collision or needing to take dangerous evasive action to avoid a collision. However, it is challenging for a cyclist to maintain adequate awareness of objects and events behind them. When a cyclist looks over their shoulder to see what is behind them, they cannot see what is ahead of them and they risk losing stability or inadvertently changing their bicycle's course. It is also difficult for the cyclist to turn their head far enough to see what is directly behind them, rather than off to the side. Additionally, even if a cyclist does get a glimpse of a vehicle approaching from behind, it is often difficult to determine how near the vehicle is or how soon it will intercept the cyclist. Existing solutions, such as bicycle radar devices, cannot discriminate between various types of objects (e.g., cars, motorcycles, other cyclists) and are ineffective in determining relative priority of threats in common multi-target situations found in urban and suburban environments (e.g., cars in an immediately adjacent lane vs. cars two lanes away). Monocular camera-based solutions can identify multiple target threats and azimuthal location, but provide poor accuracy when assessing relative distance and speed of threats. Better solutions are needed for providing situational awareness to cyclists. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides systems, apparatuses, and methods relating to situational awareness for cyclists. In some examples, a computer-implemented method for improving micromobility vehicle travel comprises: collecting, from a plurality of computing devices each traveling with a respective micromobility vehicle in a same geographic area, data reflecting hazardous conditions encountered by the corresponding micromobility vehicle at respective locations; determining, based on the collected data, respective hazard levels of each of the locations; and generating, based on the determined hazard levels, a map of at least a portion of the geographic area, wherein the map includes hazard information based on the determined hazard levels of the locations. In some examples, a computer-implemented method for improved micromobility vehicle travel comprises: receiving, at a processor, a plurality of sets of user data each captured by a user device borne by a respective one of a plurality of micromobility vehicles, wherein each set of user data includes location-specific information about travel conditions encountered by the corresponding micromobility vehicle; receiving, at the processor, input indicating a start point and an end point; identifying one or more routes between the start point and the end point; and generating a map including the start point, the end point, the one or more routes between the start point and the end point, and a visual indication of risk level based on the travel conditions at one or more portions of at least one of the one or more routes. In some examples, a data-processing system comprises: one or more processors; a memory; a plurality of instructions stored in the memory, wherein the plurality of instructions is executable by the one or more processors to: receive a plurality of sets of user data each including location-specific information about travel conditions encountered by a respective micromobility vehicle; identify one or more routes between a same start point and a same end point; and generate a map including the start point, the end point, the one or more routes between the start point and the end point, and a visual indication of risk level based on the travel conditions at one or more portions of at least one of the one or more routes. Features, functions, and advantages may be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present disclosure, or may be combined in yet other embodiments, further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an i