IP Library Granted Patent US 12,299,605
Granted Patent B2
US 12,299,605 · App. 18/102,135 · Granted May 13, 2025

System and method for ride hailing an autonomous vehicle by a third party

Inventor: Danson Evan Lu Garcia (Pittsburgh, PA)
Assignee: Volkswagen Group of America Investments, LLC
G06Q10/02G06Q50/40G06Q50/47
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,299,605
App. No.
18/102,135
Granted
May 13, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for ride hailing an autonomous vehicle by a third party. For example, the method includes: receiving, from a user device associated with a user account of a user for an autonomous vehicle service, (i) a request to add a rider profile associated with a rider other than the user to the user account and (ii) rider information associated with the rider; generating, based on the rider information, the rider profile; receiving, from the user device, a pick-up request associated with (i) the user account and (ii) the rider profile; assigning, based on the pick-up request, an autonomous vehicle to pick-up the rider; and providing, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, based on the rider profile, an indication of a type of identification to use to identify the rider and/or unlock the autonomous vehicle when picking-up the rider.

Claims (48)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, with at least one processor, from a user device associated with a user account of a user for an autonomous vehicle service, (i) a request to add a rider profile associated with a rider other than the user to the user account and (ii) rider information associated with the rider;

generating, with the at least one processor, based on the rider information, the rider profile associated with the rider;

receiving, with the at least one processor, from the user device associated with the user account, a pick-up request associated with (i) the user account and (ii) the rider profile associated with the rider;

assigning, with the at least one processor, based on the pick-up request, an autonomous vehicle to pick-up the rider;

providing, with the at least one processor, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, based on the rider profile associated with the rider, an indication of a type of identification to use to identify the rider and/or unlock the autonomous vehicle when picking-up the rider,

wherein the type of identification to use to identify the rider and/or unlock the autonomous vehicle when picking-up the rider includes at least one biometric identification technique, and wherein a pair of keys including an encryption key for generating encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider is generated by the user device during the generation of the rider profile of the rider before receiving, with the at least one processor, from the user device, the pick-up request,

providing, with the at least one processor, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key, wherein the other of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key is received by the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider from the user device,

receiving, with the at least one processor, from the user device associated with the user account of the user, a confirmation to unlock the autonomous vehicle for the rider, and

providing, with the at least one processor, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, based on the confirmation, an unlock command to unlock a door of the autonomous vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, with the at least one processor, from the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, at least one of an image of the rider, an audio recording of the rider's voice, or any combination; and

providing, with the at least one processor, to the user device associated with the user account of the user, the at least one of an image of the rider, the audio recording of the rider's voice, or any combination; thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pair of keys is generated by the user device based on providing, to the at least one processor, the pick-up request associated with the rider profile of the rider.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the user and (ii) the decryption key is provided by the user device to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the user in response to the user device receiving a request for the decryption key from the autonomous vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, with the at least one processor, from the user device associated with the user account of the user, one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key;

storing, with the at least one processor, in association with the rider profile of the rider, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key; and

providing, with the at least one processor, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key is obtained by the at least one processor during generation of the rider profile of the rider before receiving, from the user device associated with the user account of the user for the autonomous vehicle service, the pick-up request associated with the rider profile of the rider.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key continues to be stored in association with the rider profile of the rider after the rider is picked-up by the autonomous vehicle.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key is obtained by the at least one processor based on receiving, from the user device associated with the user account of the user for the autonomous vehicle service, the pick-up request associated with the rider profile of the rider.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

in response to providing, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key, automatically deleting, with the at least one processor, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key stored in association with the rider profile of the rider.

10. A system, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

receive, from a user device associated with a user account of a user for an autonomous vehicle service, (i) a request to add a rider profile associated with a rider other than the user to the user account and (ii) rider information associated with the rider;

generate, based on the rider information, the rider profile associated with the rider;

receive, from the user device associated with the user account, a pick-up request associated with (i) the user account and (ii) the rider profile associated with the rider;

assign, based on the pick-up request, an autonomous vehicle to pick-up the rider;

provide, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, based on the rider profile associated with the rider, an indication of a type of identification to use to identify the rider and/or unlock the autonomous vehicle when picking-up the rider,

wherein the type of identification to use to identify the rider and/or unlock the autonomous vehicle when picking-up the rider includes at least one biometric identification technique, and wherein a pair of keys including an encryption key for generating encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider is generated by the user device, and

wherein the pair of keys is generated by the user device during the generation of the rider profile of the rider before receiving, with the at least one processor, from the user device, the pick-up request;

provide, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key, wherein the other of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key is received by the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider from the user device;

receive, from the user device associated with the user account of the user, a confirmation to unlock the autonomous vehicle for the rider; and

provide, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, based on the confirmation, an unlock command to unlock a door of the autonomous vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive, from the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, at least one of an image of the rider, an audio recording of the rider's voice, or any combination thereof; and

provide, to the user device associated with the user account of the user, the at least one of an image of the rider, the audio recording of the rider's voice, or any combination thereof.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the user and (ii) the decryption key is provided by the user device to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the user in response to the user device receiving a request for the decryption key from the autonomous vehicle.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

obtain, from the user device associated with the user account of the user, one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key;

store, in association with the rider profile of the rider, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key; and

provide, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key is obtained by the at least one processor during generation of the rider profile of the rider before receiving, from the user device associated with the user account of the user for the autonomous vehicle service, the pick-up request associated with the rider profile of the rider, and wherein the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key continues to be stored in association with the rider profile of the rider after the rider is picked-up by the autonomous vehicle.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key is obtained by the at least one processor based on receiving, from the user device associated with the user account of the user for the autonomous vehicle service, the pick-up request associated with the rider profile of the rider, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

in response to providing, to the autonomous vehicle assigned to pick-up the rider, the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key, automatically delete the one of (i) the encrypted biometric information associated with the rider and (ii) the decryption key stored in association with the rider profile of the rider.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 23, 2024
From: ARGO AI, LLC
To: VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA INVESTMENTS, LLC
Reel/Frame 069228/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 27, 2023
From: GARCIA, DANSON EVAN LU
To: ARGO AI, LLC
Reel/Frame 062506/0055 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240256990A1 · Aug 1, 2024
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