Granted Patent B2

US 11,371,857 · App. 15/935,230 · Granted Jun 28, 2022

Inventors: Darren Ernest Canavor (Redmond, WA); Erik Resch Parker (Snohomish, WA); Allan Scott Bathurst (Seattle, WA); Marshall Friend Tappen (Bainbridge Island, WA)

Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.

G01C21/3617G01C21/3461H04W4/021H04W4/48H04W12/062H04W12/065H04W12/068H04W12/069

Abstract

Claims (97)

1. A system, comprising:

an autonomous vehicle comprising:

a passenger cabin; and

a camera having a field of view including at least a portion of the passenger cabin; and

a controller configured to control operation of the autonomous vehicle, the controller is programmed with one or more sets of instructions that, when executed, cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

capture an image of a passenger within the passenger cabin by the camera;

detect a face of the passenger within the image;

match the face of the passenger to facial data in a passenger profile of the passenger, wherein the passenger profile comprises a plurality of preferred settings associated with the passenger;

determine that the passenger profile corresponds to the passenger based at least in part on the facial data;

identify a vehicle profile for the autonomous vehicle, wherein the vehicle profile comprises a plurality of rules specifying configurable settings of the autonomous vehicle for autonomous operation;

select at least one rule from the vehicle profile to be enforced during operation of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the passenger profile;

configure the autonomous vehicle for autonomous operation along a route for autonomous travel by the autonomous vehicle from a first location to a second location in accordance with at least one of the plurality of preferred settings specified in the passenger profile and the at least one rule specified in the vehicle profile, wherein the route comprises at least a first leg and specifies at least a first speed for the autonomous vehicle on the first leg; and

adjust at least one of the first leg or the first speed based at least in part on the passenger profile.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

establish a geofenced area of autonomous operation for the autonomous vehicle,

wherein the geofenced area includes each of the first location and the second location, and

wherein at least one geofence setting of the geofenced area of autonomous operation is specified in the at least one rule.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

determine a maximum speed of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the maximum speed is specified in the at least one rule;

determine that the first speed is not greater than the maximum speed;

determine that at least a portion of the first leg is outside of the geofenced area; and

adjust the first leg based at least in part on the geofenced area,

wherein the adjusted first leg is within the geofenced area.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed with one or more sets of instructions that, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

determine an age of the passenger based at least in part on the passenger profile,

wherein the at least one rule is selected based at least in part on an age of the passenger.

5. A system, comprising:

an autonomous vehicle comprising a sensor and a controller comprising one or more processors, wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein the controller is programmed with one or more sets of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

capture data regarding a passenger of the autonomous vehicle by the sensor;

identify a passenger profile corresponding to the passenger of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the data, wherein the passenger profile comprises a plurality of preferred settings associated with the passenger;

identify, based at least in part on the passenger profile, a rule specified in a vehicle profile for the autonomous vehicle to be enforced, wherein the rule specifies a configurable setting of the autonomous vehicle during autonomous operation;

configure the autonomous vehicle for autonomous operation along a route for autonomous travel by the autonomous vehicle from a first location to a second location in accordance with at least one of the plurality of preferred settings specified in the passenger profile and the rule specified in the vehicle profile, wherein the route comprises at least a first leg and specifies at least a first speed for the autonomous vehicle on the first leg; and

determine an adjustment of at least one of the first leg or the first speed based at least in part on the passenger profile.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

determine that the passenger is one of a class of passengers based at least in part on the passenger profile; and

determine that the rule specified in the vehicle profile is applicable to the class of passengers.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

establish a geofenced area of autonomous operation for the autonomous vehicle, wherein the geofenced area of autonomous operation is established in accordance with the rule specified in the vehicle profile; and

modify the geofenced area of autonomous operation based at least in part on the passenger profile,

wherein at least a portion of the first leg is outside of the modified geofenced area prior to the adjustment of the first leg, and

wherein the first leg is within the modified geofenced area after the adjustment of the first leg.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

determine an age of the passenger based at least in part on the passenger profile,

wherein the autonomous vehicle is configured for autonomous operation based at least in part on the age of the passenger.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the sensor is a camera provided within a passenger cabin of the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

capture, by the camera, an image of at least a portion of the passenger;

detect a face of the passenger within the image; and

match the face of the passenger to facial data in the passenger profile of the passenger.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the autonomous vehicle includes an interactive display device mounted in association with a dashboard of the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

receive, via the interactive display device, an input identifying at least the second location from the passenger,

wherein the camera captures the image in response to receiving the input via the interactive display device.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein the sensor is a microphone provided within a passenger cabin of the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

capture, by the microphone, a voice sample from the passenger; and

match the voice sample to voice data in the passenger profile of the passenger.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the sensor is a wireless transceiver having an operational range that includes a passenger cabin of the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein the one or more sets of instructions, when executed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to at least:

establish, by the wireless transceiver, a data connection with an electronic device associated with the passenger;

receive, by the wireless transceiver, an identification token from the electronic device; and

match the identification token to a unique identifier in the passenger profile of the passenger.

13. A method, comprising:

capturing, by a camera provided within a passenger cabin of an autonomous vehicle, an image of at least a portion of a passenger of the autonomous vehicle;

identifying, via a controller of the autonomous vehicle, a passenger profile corresponding to the passenger of the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the image;

determining, by the controller based at least in part on passenger profile data included in the passenger profile, that the passenger is one of a class of passengers;

selecting, via the controller of the autonomous vehicle and based at least in part on the class of passengers, a rule specified in a vehicle profile of the autonomous vehicle to be enforced, wherein the rule specifies a configurable setting of the autonomous vehicle; and

configuring the autonomous vehicle for autonomous operation in accordance with the rule specified in the vehicle profile.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein configuring the autonomous vehicle further comprises:

establishing, by the controller of the autonomous vehicle, a geofenced area of operation for the autonomous vehicle,

wherein the geofenced area of operation is specified in the rule in the vehicle profile.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein configuring the autonomous vehicle further comprises:

engaging, via the controller of the autonomous vehicle, a child lock for a door of the autonomous vehicle for at least a portion of a duration of a trip of the autonomous vehicle.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the portion of the passenger comprises a face of the passenger, and

wherein identifying the passenger profile further comprises:

detecting, via at least one of the camera or the controller, the face of the passenger within the image; and

matching, via the controller of the autonomous vehicle, the face of the passenger to facial data in the passenger profile of the passenger.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the passenger profile further comprises:

recording, via an audio input device within the autonomous vehicle, a voice sample from the passenger; and

matching, via the controller of the autonomous vehicle, the voice sample of the passenger to voice data in the passenger profile of the passenger.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the passenger profile further comprises:

establishing, with a communications interface of the autonomous vehicle, a data connection with an electronic device associated with the passenger;

receiving, with the communications interface of the autonomous vehicle, an identification token from the electronic device; and

matching, with the controller of the autonomous vehicle, the identification token to a unique identifier in the passenger profile of the passenger.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

generating a route for autonomous travel by the autonomous vehicle from a first location to a second location in accordance with the rule specified in the vehicle profile, wherein the route comprises at least a first leg and specifies at least a first speed for the autonomous vehicle on the first leg; and

determining an adjustment of at least one of the first leg or the first speed based at least in part on the passenger profile,

wherein at least a portion of the first leg is outside of a geofenced area prior to the adjustment, and

wherein the first leg is entirely within the geofenced area after the adjustment.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein the camera includes an interactive display device mounted in association with a dashboard of the autonomous vehicle, and

wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, via the interactive display device, an input identifying at least one destination,

wherein configuring the autonomous vehicle for autonomous operation of the autonomous vehicle in accordance with the rule specified in the vehicle profile comprises:

generating a route to the at least one destination in accordance with the rule specified in the vehicle profile.

21. The method of claim 13 , wherein the passenger profile comprises a plurality of preferred settings associated with the passenger, and wherein the method further comprises:

configuring the autonomous vehicle for autonomous operation in accordance with at least one of the plurality of preferred settings specified in the passenger profile.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

Cited By (13)

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