Granted Patent B2

US 12,321,179 · App. 17/161,868 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Inventors: Akila C. Ganlath (Agua Dulce, CA); Nejib Ammar (San Jose, CA); Prashant Tiwari (Santa Clara, CA)

Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

G05D1/0295G05D1/0293G05D1/69G05D1/695G06Q30/0283G06Q50/188H04W4/46

Abstract

Claims (54)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a vehicle system of a first vehicle, a first request to join a vehicle platoon from a user;

in response to receiving the first request, presenting an inquiry to the user to select whether the user prefers to arrive at a destination in a shortest time or whether the user prefers to minimize fuel cost;

receiving a response to the inquiry from the user;

receiving, by a server, requests to form a vehicle platoon from a plurality of vehicles including the first vehicle, each request comprising a request to be a lead vehicle or a follower vehicle, a request from the first vehicle being a request to become a platoon leader when the response to the inquiry is a preference to arrive at a destination in a shortest time, and the request from the first vehicle being a request to become a follower vehicle in a platoon when the response to the inquiry is a preference to minimize fuel cost;

determining terms of a contract for the plurality of vehicles to form the vehicle platoon comprising a lead vehicle, selected from among vehicles for which a request was received to be the lead vehicle, and one or more follower vehicles;

transmitting terms of the contract to the plurality of vehicles; and

after the contract has been established between the plurality of vehicles to form the vehicle platoon, exchanging messages, comprising information related to vehicle states, between the plurality of vehicles based on the contract and autonomously navigating the plurality of vehicles, by autonomous driving modules of the plurality of vehicles, to form the vehicle platoon based on sensor data and the exchanged messages,

wherein the terms of the contract comprise:

at least one of the follower vehicles making a payment;

the lead vehicle receiving the payment; and

each of the follower vehicles receiving vehicle data from the lead vehicle according to a unique service profile associated with each follower vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle data comprises a cooperative adaptive cruise control message.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle data comprises a basic safety message.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

facilitating the payment to the lead vehicle; and

facilitating the payment from the at least one of the follower vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the server, the vehicle data from the lead vehicle; and

transmitting by the server, the vehicle data to each of the follower vehicles.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the terms of the contract comprise an arrangement of the plurality of vehicles in the vehicle platoon.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service profile associated with each follower vehicle comprises a frequency at which the follower vehicle receives vehicle data from the lead vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether at least two of the plurality of vehicles are within a predetermined threshold distance from each other; and

determining the terms of the contract for the at least two of the plurality of vehicles that are within the predetermined threshold distance from each other.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the terms of the contract based on constraints associated with one or more of the plurality of vehicles.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the constraints associated with the one or more of the plurality of vehicles comprise a maximum payment a vehicle is willing to make to be a follower vehicle of the vehicle platoon or a minimum payment a vehicle is willing to accept to be the lead vehicle of the vehicle platoon.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the terms of the contract based on a fuel efficiency of each of the plurality of vehicles.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the terms of the contract based on a cost of data transmission.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request from an additional vehicle to join the vehicle platoon; and

determining terms of a new contract to form a new vehicle platoon including the additional vehicle.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, upon one of the plurality of vehicles leaving the vehicle platoon, determining terms of a new contract to form a new vehicle platoon including the remaining vehicles of the plurality of vehicles.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an amount to be paid by each of the follower vehicles and an amount to be paid to the lead vehicle such that an expected savings of each of the plurality of vehicles is the same.

16. A system comprising a server and a plurality of vehicles, wherein:

a first vehicle among the plurality of vehicles is configured to:

receive a first request to join a vehicle platoon from a user;

in response to receiving the first request, present an inquiry to the user to select whether the user prefers to arrive at a destination in a shortest time or whether the user prefers to minimize fuel cost; and

receive a response to the inquiry from the user; and

the server comprises a controller configured to:

receive requests to form a vehicle platoon from the plurality of vehicles including the first vehicle, each request comprising a request to be a lead vehicle or a follower vehicle, a request from the first vehicle being a request to become a platoon leader when the response to the inquiry is a preference to arrive at a destination in a shortest time, and the request from the first vehicle being a request to become a follower vehicle in a platoon when the response to the inquiry is a preference to minimize fuel cost; and

determine terms of a contract for the plurality of vehicles to form the vehicle platoon comprising a lead vehicle, selected from among vehicles for which a request was received to be the lead vehicle, and one or more follower vehicles, and

wherein, after the contract has been established between the plurality of vehicles to form the vehicle platoon, the plurality of vehicles are configured to exchange messages, comprising information related to vehicle states, with each other based on the contract and autonomous driving modules of the plurality of vehicles are configured to autonomously navigate, by autonomous driving modules of the plurality of vehicles, to form the vehicle platoon based on sensor data and the exchanged messages,

wherein the terms of the contract comprise:

at least one of the follower vehicles making a payment;

the lead vehicle receiving the payment; and

each of the follower vehicles receiving vehicle data from the lead vehicle according to a unique service profile associated with each follower vehicle.

17. The server of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

facilitate the payment to the lead vehicle; and

facilitate the payment from the at least one of the plurality of vehicles.

18. The server of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive the vehicle data from the lead vehicle; and

transmit the vehicle data to each of the follower vehicles.

19. The server of claim 16 , wherein the service profile associated with each follower vehicle comprises a frequency at which the follower vehicle receives vehicle data from the lead vehicle.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (49)