IP Library Granted Patent US 12,418,779
Granted Patent B2
US 12,418,779 · App. 17/946,741 · Granted Sep 16, 2025

Human assisted live operations systems and methods

Inventors: Theresa Foy (San Francisco, CA); Christopher Warren (Seattle, WA); Livia Johanna (San Francisco, CA); Bharatkumar Patel (Fremont, CA); Leah Meyerholtz (San Francisco, CA); Qingxuan Li (San Mateo, CA); David J. Shuckerow (Seattle, WA); MinJie Tong (Issaquah, WA); Vinayaka Dattatraya (Mill Creek, WA); Kendal Sparks (New York, NY); McKenna Morey (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings, LLC
H04W4/40B60W50/14B60W60/0015B60W60/00253G06F3/0481G06F3/0484G06F3/165G06V40/28G09B21/006G09B21/009G10L13/02G10L15/005G10L15/18G10L15/22G10L25/51H04M3/51H04M3/56H04N7/181B60W2050/146B60W2420/403B60W2420/54B60W2540/21B60W2540/223B60W2555/20B60W2556/45G10L2015/088
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,418,779
App. No.
17/946,741
Granted
Sep 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

There is disclosed a method of operating an autonomous vehicle (AV), including: detecting an alert condition within the AV via data from an electronic sensor suite of the AV; based at least in part on detecting the alert condition, automatically initiating a call with another party; and communicatively coupling a passenger of the AV to the call, whereby the passenger can communicate with the other party via the call.

Claims (29)

1. A method of operating an autonomous vehicle (AV) for a ride-hail service, comprising:

determining an alert condition within the AV via electronic sensor data of the AV, wherein the alert condition is non-disabling, and the alert condition is inferred from the electronic sensor data of the AV;

based at least in part on detecting the alert condition, automatically initiating a conference call with a representative of the ride-hail service, the conference call managed by a system associated with the representative; and

communicatively coupling a passenger of the AV to the conference call, whereby the passenger can communicate with the representative via the conference call, wherein termination of the conference call is controlled by the system associated with the representative.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert condition comprises a law enforcement interaction.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert condition comprises adverse weather conditions.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert condition comprises tampering or attempted tampering of the AV.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert condition comprises presence of an unexpected person or animal in the AV.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising playing a pre-recorded audio message or chime at a beginning of the conference call.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein managing the conference call comprises selectively adding at least one third party to the conference call based on the alert condition while maintaining communication with the passenger.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising terminating or pausing non-essential applications provided in the AV for a duration of the conference call.

9. An autonomous vehicle (AV) operator for a ride-hail service, comprising a processor circuit, a memory, and instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor circuit to:

determine an alert condition within the AV via data from an electronic sensor suite of the AV, wherein the alert condition is a non-disabling alert condition, and the alert condition is inferred from data from the electronic sensor suite of the AV;

based at least in part on detecting the alert condition, automatically initiate a conference call with another party, the conference call managed by a system associated with the other party; and

communicatively couple a passenger of the AV to the conference call, whereby the passenger can communicate with the other party via the conference call, wherein termination of the conference call is controlled by the system associated with the other party.

10. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein the alert condition comprises a law enforcement interaction.

11. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein the alert condition comprises adverse weather conditions.

12. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein the alert condition comprises tampering or attempted tampering of the AV.

13. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein the alert condition comprises presence of an unexpected person or animal in the AV.

14. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein the processor circuit is further instructed to play a pre-recorded audio message or chime at a beginning of the conference call.

15. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein managing the conference call comprises selectively adding at least one third party to the conference call based on the alert condition while maintaining communication with the passenger.

16. The AV operator of claim 9 , wherein the processor circuit is further instructed to terminate or pause non-essential applications provided in the AV for a duration of the conference call.

17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions to cause a processor to:

determine an alert condition within an autonomous vehicle (AV) via data from an electronic sensor suite of the AV, wherein the AV belongs to a ride-hail fleet, and wherein the alert condition is non-disabling, and the alert condition is inferred from electronic sensor data of the AV;

based at least in part on detecting the alert condition, automatically initiate a conference call with another party, the conference call managed by a system associated with the other party; and

communicatively couple a passenger of the AV to the conference call, whereby the passenger can communicate with the other party via the conference call, wherein termination of the conference call is controlled by the system associated with the other party.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the executable instructions are to further cause the processor to play a pre-recorded audio message or chime at a beginning of the conference call.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein managing the conference call comprises selectively adding at least one third party to the conference call based on the alert condition while maintaining communication with the passenger.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the executable instructions are to further cause the processor to terminate or pause non-essential applications provided in the AV for a duration of the conference call.

Assignments (2)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE PROPERTY NO. ON COVERSHEET: 17946741 17946824 17946895 17946912 14946904, SHOULD BE 17946741 17946741 17946824 17946895 17946912 17946904 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 061126 FRAME: 0823. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Mar 11, 2023
From: FOY, THERESA; WARREN, CHRISTOPHER; PATEL, BHARATKUMAR; MEYERHOLTZ, LEAH; JOHANNA, LIVIA; LI, QINGXUAN; SHUCKEROW, DAVID J.; TONG, MINJIE; DATTATRAYA, VINAYAKA; MOREY, MCKENNA
To: GM CRUISE HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 063054/0513 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 16, 2022
From: FOY, THERESA; WARREN, CHRISTOPHER; PATEL, BHARATKUMAR; MEYERHOLTZ, LEAH; JOHANNA, LIVIA; LI, QINGXUAN; SHUCKEROW, DAVID J.; TONG, MINJIE; DATTATRAYA, VINAYAKA; SPARKS, KENDAL; MOREY, MCKENNA
To: GM CRUISE HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 061126/0823 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240098463A1 · Mar 21, 2024
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