IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,435,986
Granted Patent B2
US 12,435,986 · App. 18/131,541 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Determining pickup and drop off locations for large venue points of interests

Inventors: Kevin Malta (San Francisco, CA); Bruce Mai (Sacramento, CA); Reed Morse (Millbrae, CA); Victor Chan (Mountain View, CA); Celia Zhang (Sunnyvale, CA); Jonathan Willing (Mountain View, CA); Shiqian Zhang (Sunnyvale, CA); Donghyun Kim (San Mateo, CA)
Assignee: WAYMO LLC
G01C21/3484
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,435,986
App. No.
18/131,541
Granted
Oct 7, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure provide for generating and using a model for identifying a plurality of pick up or drop off locations for a large venue point of interest. For instance, a large venue point of interest may be identified. The plurality may be identified for the large venue point of interest based on a combination of historical trip data and map information. The plurality may be associated with the large venue point of interest. The association may be stored in memory for later use. Thereafter, a request for a trip identifying the large venue point of interest may be received from a client computing device, and the plurality may be provided to the client computing device in response to the request. A pickup and drop off location of the plurality may be provided to an autonomous vehicle in order to cause the autonomous vehicle to transport a passenger to the pickup or drop off location.

Claims (36)

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by one or more processors of one or more server computing devices, a large venue point of interest from a plurality of points of interest defined in map information based on a size of a polygon associated with the large venue point of interest in the map information;

identifying, by the one or more processors, a plurality of pick up or drop off locations based on a distance between historical pick up or drop off locations and a side of the polygon;

receiving, from a client computing device, a request for a trip identifying the large venue point of interest;

providing, by the one or more processors, the identified plurality of pick up or drop off locations to the client computing device in response to the request; and

dispatching, by the one or more processors, an autonomous vehicle in order to complete the trip.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the large venue point of interest is further identified based on a categorization of the large venue point of interest in the map information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polygon includes a building footprint.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polygon is a bounding polygon for the large venue point of interest.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the large venue point of interest is further identified based on historical trip data including whether users have requested a particular pick up location or destination location for the large venue point of interest and the users moved the particular pick up or destination location.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the large venue point of interest is further identified based on historical trip data including ratings for pick up and drop off experiences for the large venue point of interest, and wherein the large venue point of interest is further identified based on the ratings.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the ratings relate to walking distance.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the ratings relate to lighting conditions.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of pick up or drop off locations is further based on timing of pickups or drop offs at the historical pickup or drop off locations.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of pick up or drop off locations is further based on a level of difficulty for an autonomous vehicle to complete a pick up or drop off at the historical pick up or drop off locations.

11. The method of claim 1 , determining a number of pick up or drop off locations to include in the identified plurality of pick up or drop off locations based on characteristics of the polygon.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the characteristics include a number of sides of the polygon.

13. A system comprising one or more server computing devices having one or more processors configured to:

identify a large venue point of interest from a plurality of points of interest defined in map information based on a size of a polygon associated with the large venue point of interest in the map information;

identify a plurality of pick up or drop off locations based on a distance between historical pick up or drop off locations and a side of the polygon;

receive, from a client computing device, a request for a trip identifying the large venue point of interest;

provide, to the client computing device, the identified plurality of pick up or drop off locations to the client computing device in response to the request; and

dispatch an autonomous vehicle in order to complete the trip.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to identify the large venue point of interest further based on a categorization of the large venue point of interest in the map information.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to identify the large venue point of interest further based on historical trip data including whether users have requested a particular pick up location or destination location for the large venue point of interest and the users moved the particular pick up or destination location.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to identify the large venue point of interest further based on historical trip data including ratings for pick up or drop off experiences for the large venue point of interest, and wherein the large venue point of interest is further identified based on the ratings.

17. The system of claim 13 , the one or more processors are further configured to identify the plurality of pick up or drop off locations further based on timing of historical pick ups and drop offs.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to identify the plurality of pick up or drop off locations further based on a level of difficulty for an autonomous vehicle to complete a pick up or drop off at the historical pick up or drop off locations.

19. The system of claim 13 , the one or more processors are further configured to determine a number of pick up or drop off locations to include in the identified plurality of pick up or drop off locations based on characteristics of the polygon.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the characteristics include a number of sides of the polygon.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium on which instructions are stored, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method of:

identifying a large venue point of interest from a plurality of points of interest defined in map information based on a size of a polygon associated with the large venue point of interest in the map information;

identifying a plurality of pick up or drop off locations based on a distance between historical pick up or drop off locations and a side of the polygon;

receiving, from a client computing device, a request for a trip identifying the large venue point of interest;

providing, to the client computing device, the identified plurality of pick up or drop off locations to the client computing device in response to the request; and

dispatching, by the one or more processors, an autonomous vehicle in order to complete the trip.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 18, 2023
From: MALTA, KEVIN; MAI, BRUCE; MORSE, REED; CHAN, VICTOR; ZHANG, CELIA; WILLING, JONATHAN; ZHANG, SHIQIAN; KIM, DONGHYUN
To: WAYMO LLC
Reel/Frame 063352/0756 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63330080 · Apr 12, 2022
Related Publication 20230324192A1 · Oct 12, 2023
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