IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,442,457
Granted Patent B2
US 11,442,457 · App. 16/202,154 · Granted Sep 13, 2022

Navigation via predictive task scheduling interruption for autonomous vehicles

Inventors: Shikhar Kwatra (Durham, NC); Florian Pinel (New York, NY); Jeremy R. Fox (Georgetown, TX); Mauro Marzorati (Lutz, FL)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
G05D1/0221G05D1/0088G06F9/4881G06N3/08G05D2201/0213
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,442,457
App. No.
16/202,154
Granted
Sep 13, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to one embodiment, a method, computer system, and computer program product for navigating driverless vehicles is provided. The present invention may include ingesting data pertaining to the operation of the driverless vehicle, utilizing that data to predict tasks, which are driverless vehicle service tasks such as parking, maintenance, fueling, et cetera. The invention may further include determining the risk that a user may have need of the driverless vehicle, and scheduling the tasks to provide a balanced combination of convenience to the user, effective maintenance of the driverless vehicle, cost, and time. The method further includes navigating the driverless vehicle to accomplish the scheduled tasks.

Claims (41)

1. A processor-implemented method, the method comprising:

quantifying an availability risk associated with one or more predicted events on a user's schedule, wherein quantifying the availability risk comprises utilizing a data normalization function to generate a normalized time-based location matrix of the user's planned destinations based on real-time GPS location data;

predicting a next fueling time and location of a driverless vehicle based on a battery threshold of the driverless vehicle;

finding an availability window for scheduling each of the one or more predicted events on the user's schedule, wherein the scheduling is based at least on the availability risk and a buffer time that is based on environmental data, wherein the environmental data comprises traffic data and weather data;

navigating the driverless vehicle based on scheduling at least one time to perform at least one predicted task, wherein the performing includes automatically returning to the location from which the driverless vehicle departed;

comparing parking and energy costs to pick a best parking location when arriving at or returning from a task; and

receiving user feedback to assess and refine accuracy of future availability risk calculations, together with task predicting and scheduling.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the availability risk is a likelihood that the user will need to use the driverless vehicle at a given time.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the availability risk is quantified based on prompting the user for information regarding when the user expects to use the driverless vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the availability risk is assigned to one or more of the one or more events occurring within a window of time within which the driverless vehicle will require servicing or refueling.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the buffer time comprises a time before the driverless vehicle departs to complete the predicted task or after the predicted task is completed.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

inferring the presence of one or more unscheduled events based on one or more past trends in the location of the driverless vehicle.

7. A computer system the computer system comprising:

one or more driverless vehicles, one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage medium, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage medium for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherein the computer system is capable of performing a method comprising:

quantifying an availability risk associated with one or more predicted events on a user's schedule, wherein quantifying the availability risk comprises utilizing a data normalization function to generate a normalized time-based location matrix of the user's planned destinations based on real-time GPS location data;

predicting a next fueling time and location of a driverless vehicle based on a battery threshold of the driverless vehicle;

finding an availability window for scheduling each of the one or more predicted events on the user's schedule, wherein the scheduling is based at least on the availability risk and a buffer time that is based on environmental data, wherein the environmental data comprises traffic data and weather data; and

navigating the driverless vehicle based on scheduling at least one time to perform at least one predicted task, wherein the performing includes automatically returning to the location from which the driverless vehicle departed;

comparing parking and energy costs to pick a best parking location when arriving at or returning from a task; and

receiving user feedback to assess and refine accuracy of future availability risk calculations, together with task predicting and scheduling.

8. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the availability risk is a likelihood that the user will need to use the driverless vehicle at a given time.

9. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the availability risk is quantified based on prompting the user for information regarding when the user expects to use the driverless vehicle.

10. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the availability risk is assigned to one or more of the one or more events occurring within a window of time within which the driverless vehicle will require servicing or refueling.

11. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the buffer time comprises a time before the driverless vehicle departs to complete the predicted task or after the predicted task is completed.

12. The computer system of claim 7 , further comprising:

inferring the presence of one or more unscheduled events based on one or more past trends in the location of the driverless vehicle.

13. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable tangible storage medium and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage medium, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

quantifying an availability risk associated with one or more predicted events on a user's schedule, wherein quantifying the availability risk comprises utilizing a data normalization function to generate a normalized time-based location matrix of the user's planned destinations based on real-time GPS location data;

predicting a next fueling time and location of a driverless vehicle based on a battery threshold of the driverless vehicle;

finding an availability window for scheduling each of the one or more predicted events on the user's schedule, wherein the scheduling is based at least on the availability risk and a buffer time that is based on environmental data, wherein the environmental data comprises traffic data and weather data; and

navigating the driverless vehicle based on scheduling at least one time to perform at least one predicted task, wherein the performing includes automatically returning to the location from which the at least one the driverless vehicle departed;

comparing parking and energy costs to pick a best parking location when arriving at or returning from a task; and

receiving user feedback to assess and refine accuracy of future availability risk calculations, together with task predicting and scheduling.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the availability risk is a likelihood that the user will need to use the driverless vehicle at a given time.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the availability risk is quantified based on prompting the user for information regarding when the user expects to use the driverless vehicle.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the availability risk is assigned to one or more of the one or more events occurring within a window of time within which the driverless vehicle will require servicing or refueling.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the buffer time comprises a time before the driverless vehicle departs to complete the predicted task or after the predicted task is completed.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising:

inferring the presence of one or more unscheduled events based on one or more past trends in the location of the driverless vehicle.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 28, 2018
From: KWATRA, SHIKHAR; PINEL, FLORIAN; FOX, JEREMY R.; MARZORATI, MAURO
To: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 047600/0794 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200166942A1 · May 28, 2020