Non-visual notifications for autonomous vehicles

1. An audio notification system for a vehicle, the audio notification system comprising:

a first speaker configured to emit sound and located at a first location on the vehicle;

a second speaker configured to emit sound and located at a second location on the vehicle;

a sensor configured to sense that a user has accessed the vehicle; and

a processor configured to:

identify a portion of the vehicle to be accessed by the user,

select one of the first speaker and the second speaker based on proximity to the identified portion of the vehicle,

determine that the vehicle is within a range of the user,

access an instruction for generating a sound for notifying the user that the vehicle has arrived within the range of the user,

provide the instruction to the selected speaker, and

in response to receiving a signal from the sensor indicating that the user has accessed the vehicle, provide an instruction to the selected speaker to stop emitting the sound.

2. The audio notification system of claim 1 , the system further comprising a wireless sensor configured to sense a wireless signal output by a mobile device associated with the user, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the vehicle is within the range of the user in response to receiving a signal from the wireless sensor indicating that the mobile device is within the range of the wireless sensor.

3. The audio notification system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine that the vehicle is within the range of the user by:

receiving a current location of the vehicle;

comparing the current location of the vehicle to a location associated with the user; and

determining that the current location of the vehicle is less than a predetermined distance from the location associated with the user.

4. The audio notification system of claim 1 , wherein the selected speaker is a directional speaker configured to focus emitted sound in a particular direction selected from a range of directions, and the processor is further configured to:

identify a location of the user,

determine a direction of the user relative to the directional speaker based on the location of the user, and

instruct the directional speaker to emit the sound in the direction of the user relative to the directional speaker.

5. The audio notification system of claim 1 , wherein the selected speaker is a low-speed noise emitter configured to output a noise when the vehicle travels at a speed below a given speed.

6. The audio notification system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor configured to sense that the user has accessed the vehicle is a sensor configured to sense whether one of a vehicle door, a trunk door, and a door to a delivery container is open.

7. The audio notification system of claim 1 , wherein the selected speaker is configured to emit sound according to a first sound setting, the first sound setting is a setting for one of an audio pitch, an audio pattern, and an audio volume, and the processor is further configured to instruct the selected speaker to emit the sound with a second sound setting different from the first sound setting.

8. A method for providing a notification to a user, the method comprising:

identifying a portion of a vehicle to be accessed by the user;

selecting one of a plurality of speakers on the vehicle based on proximity of the selected speaker to the identified portion of the vehicle;

determining that a vehicle is within a range of the user;

accessing an instruction for generating a sound for notifying the user that the vehicle has arrived within the range of the user;

in response to determining that the vehicle is within the range of the user, instructing the selected speaker on the vehicle to emit the sound according to the instruction;

determining that the user has accessed the vehicle; and

in response to determining that the user has accessed the vehicle, instructing the selected speaker to stop emitting the sound.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining that the vehicle is within the range of the user comprises sensing, by a wireless sensor of the vehicle, a wireless signal output by a mobile device associated with the user.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining that the vehicle is within the range of the user comprises:

receiving a current location of the vehicle;

comparing the current location of the vehicle to a location associated with the user; and

determining that the current location of the vehicle is less than a predetermined distance from the location associated with the user.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the selected speaker is a directional speaker, and instructing the directional speaker to emit the sound comprises:

identifying a location of the user;

determining a direction of the user relative to the directional speaker based on the location of the user; and

instructing the directional speaker to emit the sound in the direction of the user relative to the directional speaker.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the selected speaker is a low-speed noise emitter configured to output a noise when the vehicle travels at a speed below a given speed.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining that the user has accessed the vehicle comprises determining that a door to a compartment of the vehicle has been opened, wherein the compartment is one of a vehicle door, a trunk door, and a door to a delivery container.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the instruction for generating the sound comprises a first sound setting, the first sound setting is a setting for one of an audio pitch, an audio pattern, and an audio volume, the method further comprising:

determining that the user has not accessed the vehicle within a threshold period of time; and

in response to determining that the user has not accessed the vehicle within the threshold period of time, instructing the selected speaker to emit the sound with a second sound setting different from the first sound setting.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the instruction for generating the sound comprises a first sound setting, the first sound setting is a setting for one of an audio pitch, an audio pattern, and an audio volume, the method further comprising:

determining that the vehicle is within a second range of the user, the second range smaller than the range of the user; and

in response to determining that the vehicle is within the second range of the user, instructing the selected speaker to emit the sound with a different sound setting different from the first sound setting.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for providing a notification to a user, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

identify a portion of a vehicle to be accessed by the user;

select one of a plurality of speakers on the vehicle based on proximity of the selected speaker to the identified portion of the vehicle;

determine that a vehicle is within a range of the user;

access an instruction for generating a sound for notifying the user that the vehicle has arrived within the range of the user;

in response to determining that the vehicle is within the range of the user, instruct the selected speaker on the vehicle to emit the sound according to the instruction;

determine that the user has accessed the vehicle; and

in response to determining that the user has accessed the vehicle, instruct the selected speaker to stop emitting the sound.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein determining that the vehicle is within the range of the user comprises:

receiving a current location of the vehicle;

comparing the current location of the vehicle to a location associated with the user; and

determining that the current location of the vehicle is less than a predetermined distance from the location associated with the user.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instruction for generating the sound comprises a first sound setting, the first sound setting is a setting for one of an audio pitch, an audio pattern, and an audio volume, and the instructions further cause the processor to:

determine that the user has not accessed the vehicle within a threshold period of time; and

in response to determining that the user has not accessed the vehicle within the threshold period of time, instruct the selected speaker to emit the sound with a second sound setting different from the first sound setting.