METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ASYNCHRONOUS NEGOTIATION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE STOP LOCATIONS

1 . A method of determining a stopping location for a ride service request, the method comprising, by a processor onboard a vehicle:

receiving a ride service request, wherein the ride service request includes a desired stopping location (DSL) for a passenger;

in response to the DSL not being a reachable stopping location, using map data received from a map service and sensor data captured by one or more sensors onboard the vehicle to select an intermediate stopping location (ISL);

transmitting, to a dispatching service, a message that includes the ISL; and

in response to determining that the passenger has approved the ISL, using the ISL to identify a final stopping location (FSL), and causing a motion control system of the vehicle to move the vehicle along a route to the FSL.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the ISL comprises selecting a location that is within a maximum threshold walking distance from the DSL.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving data indicative of a weather condition at the DSL; and

selecting, as the maximum threshold walking distance, a distance that corresponds to the weather condition.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein selecting the ISL also comprises:

accessing a stopping location rule set that is associated with the dispatching service; and

retrieving the maximum threshold walking distance from the stopping location rule set.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein selecting the ISL also comprises selecting a location that satisfies at least one of the following rules:

the passenger must not need to cross a street when walking from the ISL to the DSL;

the ISL must be located more than a minimum distance from a nearest intersection; or

the ISL must be of at least a minimum size.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining that the passenger has approved the ISL comprises receiving a message from the dispatching service indicating that the passenger has accepted the ISL; and

the FSL is the ISL.

7 . The method of claim 1 :

further comprising, before determining that the passenger has approved the ISL:

receiving a message from the dispatching service indicating that the passenger has rejected the ISL,

selecting an alternate ISL, and

transmitting, to the dispatching service, a message that includes the alternate ISL;

and wherein:

determining that the passenger has approved the ISL indicates that the passenger has approved the alternate ISL; and

the FSL is the alternate ISL.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some criteria that the processor uses to select the ISL are not communicated to the dispatching service.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor onboard the vehicle and the passenger do not communicate with each other before the processor identifies the FSL and causes the vehicle to move along the route.

10 . A computer program product for determining a stopping location for a ride service request, the computer program product comprising a memory device and programming instructions that are configured to cause a processor onboard a vehicle to perform a method comprising:

upon receiving a ride service request, wherein the ride service request includes a desired stopping location (DSL) for a passenger, in response to the DSL not being a reachable stopping location, using map data received from a map service and sensor data captured by one or more sensors onboard the vehicle to select an intermediate stopping location (ISL);

transmitting, to a dispatching service, a message that includes the ISL; and

in response to determining that the passenger has approved the ISL, using the ISL to identify a final stopping location (FSL), and causing a motion control system of the vehicle to move the vehicle along a route to the FSL.

11 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the instructions to select the ISL comprise instructions to select a location that is within a maximum threshold walking distance from the DSL.

12 . The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising additional programming instructions to, upon receiving data indicative of a weather condition at the DSL:

selecting, as the maximum threshold walking distance, a distance that corresponds to the weather condition.

13 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to select the ISL also comprise instructions to:

accessing a stopping location rule set that is associated with the dispatching service; and

retrieving the maximum threshold walking distance from the stopping location rule set.

14 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to select the ISL also comprise instructions to select a location that satisfies at least one of the following rules:

the passenger must not need to cross a street when walking from the ISL to the DSL;

the ISL must be located more than a minimum distance from a nearest intersection; or

the ISL must be of at least a minimum size.

15 . The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising additional programming instructions to determine that the passenger has approved the ISL upon receiving a message from the dispatching service indicating that the passenger has accepted the ISL.

16 . The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising additional programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to:

in response to receiving a message from the dispatching service indicating that the passenger has rejected the ISL:

selecting an alternate ISL, and

transmitting, to the dispatching service, a message that includes the alternate ISL;

after transmitting the message that includes the alternate ISL, determining that the passenger has approved the ISL upon receipt of a message indicating that the passenger has approved the alternate ISL.

17 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the instructions do not include instructions to communicate to the dispatching service at least some criteria that the processor will use to select the ISL.

18 . A method of determining a final stopping location for a ride service request, the method comprising, by a dispatching service:

identifying a ride service request, wherein the ride service request includes a desired stopping location (DSL) for a passenger;

transmitting the ride service request to a vehicle;

receiving, from the vehicle, an intermediate stopping location (ISL) that is an alternative to the DSL;

sending, to the passenger, a message that includes the ISL;

in response to determining that the passenger has rejected the ISL, sending, to the vehicle, a message indicating that the passenger has rejected the ISL; and

repeating the receiving step and both sending steps until either the passenger accepts an alternate ISL or the system determines that no suitable ISLs are available.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising sending the vehicle a stopping location rule that includes a maximum threshold walking distance, wherein the ISL must satisfy the stopping location rule.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising selecting the maximum threshold walking distance based on one or more of the following:

a distance that corresponds to a weather condition; or

a stopping location rule set that is associated with the dispatching service.