Granted Patent B2

US 12,387,605 · App. 17/250,970 · Granted Aug 12, 2025

Inventors: Ali Haghighat Kashani (San Francisco, CA); Bastian Jan Michael Lehmann (San Francisco, CA); Sean Tracey Plaice (San Francisco, CA); Nicholas Fischer (San Francisco, CA)

Assignee: Serve Operating Co.

G08G1/202B60L58/13B60W60/0011B60W60/0023B60W60/00253B60W60/0053G06V20/58B60W2300/365B60W2540/041B60W2540/043B60W2556/45

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. An autonomous personal mobility device comprising:

a vehicle system comprising mechanics and a power source to propel the autonomous personal mobility device along a designated path closed to vehicular traffic;

a processor coupled to the vehicle system; and

a non-transitory computer readable media coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer readable media including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive, from a central server via a communication network, a battery life request message;

in response to the battery life request message, provide, to the central server via the communication network, a response message that includes a remaining battery charge measurement associated with the power source of the autonomous personal mobility device;

receive, from the central server via the communication network, a notification including a target location for the autonomous personal mobility device, wherein the target location is located at an area closed to vehicular traffic;

run an autonomous driving program to reach the target location using a predetermined path, wherein the predetermined path travels through areas closed to vehicular traffic;

identify one or more obstacles on the predetermined path in real time;

run an obstacle avoidance program to avoid the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path, wherein the obstacle avoidance program implements one or more modifications to the predetermined path to avoid the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path; and

cause the autonomous personal mobility device to auto-drive to reach the target location based at least in part on the one or more modifications to the predetermined path to avoid the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path;

create a map of surrounding environment; and

localize the autonomous personal mobility device within the map as well as within a global reference frame, wherein the obstacle avoidance program avoids the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path based on the map and localization of the autonomous personal mobility device within the map.

2. The autonomous personal mobility device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: calculate the predetermined path to the target location.

3. The autonomous personal mobility device of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

calculate a remaining charge of the power source; and

calculate the predetermined path to the target location based on at least the remaining charge.

4. The autonomous personal mobility device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

classify the one or more obstacles as dynamic obstacles or static obstacles; and

estimate a trajectory in areas closed to vehicular traffic for the dynamic obstacles, wherein the obstacle avoidance program avoids the dynamic obstacles based on the estimated trajectory.

5. The autonomous personal mobility device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

upon receiving the notification including the target location from the central server:

transmit, to the central server via the communication network, an acknowledgement message; and

detach from a parking station.

6. The autonomous personal mobility device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

transform the map to a plurality of tile segments; and

transmit the plurality of tile segments to a remote server or one or more additional autonomous personal mobility devices.

7. A method implemented by a processor of an autonomous personal mobility device, the method comprising:

receiving, from a central server via a communication network, a battery life request message;

in response to the battery life request message, providing, to the central server via the communication network, a response message that includes a remaining battery charge measurement associated with a power source of the autonomous personal mobility device;

receiving, from the central server via the communication network, a notification including a target location for the autonomous personal mobility device, wherein the target location is located at an area closed to vehicular traffic;

running an autonomous driving program to reach the target location using a predetermined path, wherein the predetermined path travels through areas closed to vehicular traffic;

identifying one or more obstacles on the predetermined path in real time;

running an obstacle avoidance program to avoid the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path, wherein the obstacle avoidance program implements one or more modifications to the predetermined path to avoid the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path; and

auto-driving to reach the target location based at least in part on the one or more modifications to the predetermined path to avoid the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path;

creating a map of a surrounding environment; and

localizing the autonomous personal mobility device within the map as well as within a global reference frame, wherein the obstacle avoidance program avoids the one or more obstacles on the predetermined path based on the map and localization of the autonomous personal mobility device within the map.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising: calculating the predetermined path to the target location.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

calculating remaining charge of a power source of the autonomous personal mobility device; and

calculating the predetermined path to the target location based on at least the remaining charge.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

classifying the one or more obstacles as dynamic obstacles or static obstacles; and

estimating a trajectory in areas closed to vehicular traffic for the dynamic obstacles, wherein the obstacle avoidance program avoids the dynamic obstacles based on the estimated trajectory.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

upon receiving the notification including the target location from the central server: transmitting, to the central server via the communication network, an acknowledgement message; and

detaching from a parking station.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

transforming the map to a plurality of tile segments; and

transmitting the plurality of tile segments to a remote server or one or more additional autonomous personal mobility devices.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (9)