Arranging tour trips using autonomous vehicles
Aspects of the disclosure provide for arranging tour trips. For instance, a request identifying a pickup location for a tour trip may be received from a client computing device. A set of tours may be selected from a plurality of pre-stored tours based on the pickup location. Each of the plurality of pre-stored tours may include tour locations. The set of tours may be provided to the client computing device for display. Information identifying one of the set of tours may be received from the client computing device. Instructions may be provided to an autonomous vehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to complete the tour trip by maneuvering to the pickup location and thereafter visit one or more tour locations included in the identified one of the set of tours.
1. A method of arranging tour trips, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors, a request from a client computing device, the request identifying a pickup location for a tour trip provided by an autonomous vehicle;
selecting, by the one or more processors, a set of tours from a plurality of pre-stored tours based on the pickup location;
providing, by the one or more processors, the set of tours to the client computing device for display to a user;
receiving, by the one or more processors, user input indicating that the user desires to view additional information about one of the set of tours;
in response to the user input, providing, by the one or more processors, the additional information to the client computing device for display to the user, the additional information including an ordered set of tour location labels corresponding to a plurality of tour locations in the one of the set of tours, wherein an estimated walking time is displayed in each of the tour location labels along with an identity of a respective one of the plurality of tour locations, the estimated walking time indicating how much time will be needed for the user to walk to the tour location from a stopping location where the autonomous vehicle will stop to allow the user to exit the autonomous vehicle and thereafter return to the autonomous vehicle to complete the tour trip;
receiving, by the one or more processors, from the client computing device, information confirming selection by the user of the one of the set of tours; and
controlling, by the one or more processors, the autonomous vehicle to complete the tour trip by maneuvering to the pickup location and thereafter visit one or more of the plurality of tour locations included in the one of the set of tours.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more of the plurality of tour locations include a non-stopping location by or through which the autonomous vehicle will drive during the tour trip without stopping.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-stored tours is further associated with one or more interest labels, and the method further comprises, receiving information identifying one or more interests, and wherein selecting the set of tours is further based on the one or more interests and the one or more interest labels associated with each of the tours of the set of tours.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of pre-stored tours are further associated with information identifying when such tours can be taken, and wherein selecting the set of tours is further based on the information identifying when such tours can be taken.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a route and order of tour locations for each given tour of the set of tours based on the pickup location and the tour locations associated with that given tour; and
providing the route and order of tour locations for the one of the set of tours to the autonomous vehicle.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving information identifying an edit to a given one of the tours of the set of tours;
determining an updated route for the given one of the set of tours; and
providing the updated route to the client computing device for display to the user.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a route for a given tour of the plurality of pre-stored tours based on the pickup location and the tour locations associated with the given tour; and
excluding the given tour from the set of tours based on characteristics of the route.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a route for each given tour of the set of tours based on the pickup location and the tour locations associated with the given tour;
estimating a total trip length for each given tour based on the route for that given tour and an estimate of how long a passenger is likely to spend at each tour location included in the given tour; and
providing the estimated total trip lengths to the client computing device for display to the user.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-stored tours is further associated with an interest label, and the method further comprises providing the interest labels associated with the tours of the set of tours to the client computing device for display to the user.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving feedback about the tour trip; and
adjusting a characteristic of one or more tours of the plurality of pre-stored tours based on the feedback.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous vehicle is configured to provide notifications or cues to a passenger during the tour trip to suggest where to look to see a tour location included in the one of the set of tours.
12. A system for arranging tour trips, the system comprising one or more processors configured to:
receive a request from a client computing device, the request identifying a pickup location for a tour trip provided by an autonomous vehicle;
select a set of tours from a plurality of pre-stored tours based on the pickup location;
provide the set of tours to the client computing device for display to a user;
receive user input indicating that the user desires to view additional information about one of the set of tours;
in response to the user input, provide the additional information to the client computing device for display to the user, the additional information including an ordered set of tour location labels corresponding to a plurality of tour locations in the one of the set of tours, wherein an estimated walking time is displayed in each of the tour location labels along with an identity of a respective one of the plurality of tour locations, the estimated walking time indicating how much time will be needed for the user to walk to the tour location from a stopping location where the autonomous vehicle will stop to allow the user to exit the autonomous vehicle and thereafter return to the autonomous vehicle to complete the tour trip;
receive from the client computing device, information confirming selection by the user of the one of the set of tours; and
control the autonomous vehicle to complete the tour trip by maneuvering to the pickup location and thereafter visit one or more of the plurality of tour locations included in the one of the set of tours.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more of the plurality of tour locations include a non-stopping location by or through which the autonomous vehicle will drive during the tour trip without stopping.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-stored tours is further associated with one or more interest labels, and the one or more processors are further configured to, receive information identifying one or more interests, and to select the set of tours further based on the one or more interests and the one or more interest labels associated with each of the tours of the set of tours.
15. The system of claim 14 , the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive information identifying an edit to a given one of the tours of the set of tours;
determine an updated route for the given one of the set of tours; and
provide the updated route to the client computing device for display to the user.
16. The system of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-stored tours is further associated with an interest label, and the one or more processors are further configured to provide the interest labels associated with the tours of the set of tours to the client computing device for display to the user.
17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive feedback about the tour trip; and
adjust a characteristic of one or more tours of the plurality of pre-stored tours based on the feedback.
18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the autonomous vehicle is configured to provide notifications or cues to a passenger during the tour trip to suggest where to look to see a tour location included in the one of the set of tours.