Hailing a vehicle
In general, an indication is received through a user interface of an intention of a potential rider to use an autonomous vehicle. In response to the receipt of the indication, a hailing request is sent by a signaling mode to at least one autonomous vehicle that can receive the hailing request directly in accordance with the signaling mode.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at an image capture device of an autonomous vehicle (AV), one or more pulses of light emitted by a display of a device at a geographic location;
decoding, by one or more processors of the AV, the one or more pulses of light;
identifying, by the one or more processors and based on the one or more decoded pulses of light, a request for transportation services at the geographic location;
selecting, by the one or more processors, a stopping place at the geographic location; and
causing, by the one or more processors, the AV to stop at the selected stopping place.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to identifying the request for transportation services, sending, by the AV, a receipt confirmation to a user device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulses of light are in a near infrared spectrum.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request for transportation services includes a destination location.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request for transportation services includes a number of riders.
6. A method comprising:
receiving, at an audio subsystem of an autonomous vehicle (AV), one or more audio signals emitted from a user device at a geographic location;
decoding, by one or more processors of the AV, the one or more audio signals;
identifying, by the one or more processors and based on the one or more decoded audio signals, a request for transportation services at the geographic location;
selecting, by the one or more processors, a stopping place at the geographic location; and
causing, by the one or more processors, the AV to stop at the selected stopping place.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
in response to identifying the request for transportation services, sending, by the AV, a receipt confirmation to the user device.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the request for transportation services includes a destination location.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the request for transportation services includes a number of riders.
10. One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at an image capture device of an autonomous vehicle (AV), one or more pulses of light emitted by a display of a device at a geographic location;
decoding, by one or more processors of the AV, the one or more pulses of light;
identifying, by the one or more processors and based on the one or more decoded pulses of light, a request for transportation services at the geographic location;
selecting, by the one or more processors, a stopping place at the geographic location; and
causing, by the one or more processors, the AV to stop at the selected stopping place.
11. One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at an audio subsystem of an autonomous vehicle (AV), one or more audio signals emitted from a user device at a geographic location;
decoding, by one or more processors of the AV, the one or more audio signals;
identifying, by the one or more processors and based on the one or more decoded audio signals, a request for transportation services at the geographic location;
selecting, by the one or more processors, a stopping place at the geographic location; and
causing, by the one or more processors, the AV to stop at the selected stopping place.
12. An apparatus comprising:
a display screen;
one or more processors;
memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the one or more processors, user input requesting transportation services;
modulating light emitted from the display screen, the modulated light encoding the request for transportation services; and
receiving, by the one or more processors, a message from a vehicle acknowledging the request for transportations services.
13. An apparatus comprising:
an audio subsystem including one or more microphones and one or more loudspeakers;
one or more processors;
memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the one or more microphones, speech input;
determining, by the one or more processors, that the speech input is requesting transportation services;
modulating audio emitted from the loudspeaker, the modulated audio encoding the request for transportation services; and
receiving, by the one or more processors, a message from a vehicle acknowledging the request for transportations services.