Autonomous vehicle parking system

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle parking system includes a parking system server that is in electronic communication with an autonomous vehicle. The server executes programming instructions that cause it to receive a parking location request from the autonomous vehicle, identify one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, determine an estimated density and a distance from a present location of the autonomous vehicle for each the parking zones, use the estimated densities and the distances to select one of the parking zones as a destination zone, and provide the autonomous vehicle with a geographic identifier for the destination zone. After the vehicle identifies an available parking space in the destination zone, the system will initiate a transaction with a parking service provider to authorize the autonomous vehicle to park in the destination zone for a period of time.

1 . An autonomous vehicle parking system, comprising:
 a server that is in electronic communication with an autonomous vehicle via a wireless communication network, the server comprising a computer-readable medium that stores programming instructions that are configured to cause the server to:
 receive a parking location request from the autonomous vehicle via the wireless communication network, 
 identify one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, 
 for each of the parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, determine an estimated density and a distance from a present location of the autonomous vehicle, 
 use the estimated densities and the distances to select one of the parking zones as a destination zone, 
 provide the autonomous vehicle with a geographic identifier for the destination zone, 
 after the autonomous vehicle has identified an available parking spot in the designated zone, receive a parking transaction request from the autonomous vehicle, and 
 in response to receiving the parking transaction request, initiate a transaction with a parking service provider to authorize the autonomous vehicle to park in the destination zone for a period of time. 
   
     
     
         2 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 1 , further comprising the autonomous vehicle, which comprises:
 a transport system;   a processor;   a global positioning system sensor; and   a computer-readable medium containing programming instructions that are configured to instruct the processor to:
 determine that the autonomous vehicle has at least a threshold period of idle time before the autonomous vehicle must arrive at a pickup location, and 
 send the parking location request to the server, wherein the parking location request includes a current location as detected by the global positioning system sensor. 
   
     
     
         3 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 1 , wherein the parking location request also includes a location for a starting point of a next service request. 
     
     
         4 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 1 , further comprising the autonomous vehicle, which comprises:
 a transport system;   a processor;   one or more proximity sensors;   a global positioning system sensor; and   a computer-readable medium containing programming instructions that are configured to instruct the processor to:
 receive the geographic identifier for the destination zone from the server, 
 use the geographic identifier and data from the global positioning system sensor to cause the transport system to move the autonomous vehicle to the destination zone, 
 upon entering the destination zone, use data from the one or more proximity sensors to identify an available parking space in the destination zone, 
 use data from the global positioning system sensor to cause the transport system to move the autonomous vehicle into the available parking space, and 
 send the parking transaction request to the server. 
   
     
     
         5 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the parking location request includes a current location for the autonomous vehicle and a next pickup location for the autonomous vehicle;   the instructions to identify one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle comprise instructions to:
 access a data set of parking zones, in which each parking zone is associated with a location, and 
 select, from the data set, one or more parking zones that are associated with a location that is less than a first threshold distance from the current location for the autonomous vehicle and less than a second threshold distance from the next pickup location. 
   
     
     
         6 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 5 , wherein the instructions to identify one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle also comprise instructions to dynamically select the first threshold distance and the second threshold distance so that a sum of the first threshold distance and the second threshold distance is less than an overall threshold distance. 
     
     
         7 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions to determine the estimated densities for each of the parking zones comprise instructions to do one or more of the following:
 receive the estimated densities from a parking analysis system; or   receive real-time parking usage data from one or more parking service providers and use the real-time parking usage data to calculate the estimated densities.   
     
     
         8 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions to select one of the parking zones as a destination zone comprise instructions to select, as the destination zone, a parking zone that an estimated density that is below a threshold and for which a distance from the present location of the autonomous vehicle is below a threshold. 
     
     
         9 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions to select one of the parking zones as a destination zone also comprise instructions to select, as the destination zone, a parking zone for which a distance from a next pickup location for the autonomous vehicle is below a threshold. 
     
     
         10 . A method of parking an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
 by a server that is in electronic communication with an autonomous vehicle via a wireless communication network:
 receiving a parking location request from the autonomous vehicle via the wireless communication network, 
 identifying one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, 
 for each of the parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, determining an estimated density and a distance from a present location of the autonomous vehicle, 
 using the estimated densities and the distances to select one of the parking zones as a destination zone, 
 providing the autonomous vehicle with a geographic identifier for the destination zone, 
 after the autonomous vehicle has identified an available parking spot in the designated zone, receiving a parking transaction request from the autonomous vehicle, and 
 in response to receiving the parking transaction request, initiating a transaction with a parking service provider to authorize the autonomous vehicle to park in the destination zone for a period of time. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising, by the autonomous vehicle:
 determining that the autonomous vehicle has at least a threshold period of idle time before the autonomous vehicle must arrive at a pickup location; and   sending the parking location request to the server, wherein the parking location request includes a current location as detected by a global positioning system sensor of the autonomous vehicle.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the parking location request also includes a location for a starting point of a next service request. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising, by the autonomous vehicle:
 receiving the geographic identifier for the destination zone from the server;   using the geographic identifier and data from a global positioning system sensor of the autonomous vehicle to cause a transport system to move the autonomous vehicle to the destination zone;   upon entering the destination zone, using data from one or more proximity sensors of the vehicle to identify an available parking space in the destination zone;   use data from the global positioning system sensor to cause the transport system to move the autonomous vehicle into the available parking space; and   send the parking transaction request to the server.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the parking location request includes a current location for the autonomous vehicle and a next pickup location for the autonomous vehicle;   the step of identifying one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle comprises:
 accessing a data set of parking zones, in which each parking zone is associated with a location, and 
 selecting, from the data set, one or more parking zones that are associated with a location that is less than a first threshold distance from the current location for the autonomous vehicle and less than a second threshold distance from the next pickup location. 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the step of identifying one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle also comprises dynamically selecting the first threshold distance and the second threshold distance so that a sum of the first threshold distance and the second threshold distance is less than an overall threshold distance. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of determining the estimated densities for each of the parking zones comprises doing do one or more of the following:
 receiving the estimated densities from a parking analysis system; or   receiving real-time parking usage data from one or more parking service providers and using the real-time parking usage data to calculate the estimated densities.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of selecting one of the parking zones as a destination zone comprises selecting, as the destination zone, a parking zone that an estimated density that is below a threshold and for which a distance from the present location of the autonomous vehicle is below a threshold. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the step of selecting one of the parking zones as a destination zone also comprises selecting, as the destination zone, a parking zone for which a distance from a next pickup location for the autonomous vehicle is below a threshold. 
     
     
         19 . An autonomous vehicle parking system, comprising:
 a server that is in electronic communication with an autonomous vehicle via a wireless communication network, the server comprising a computer-readable medium that stores programming instructions that are configured to cause the server to:
 receive a parking location request from the autonomous vehicle via the wireless communication network, 
 identify one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, 
 for each the parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle, determine an estimated density for the parking zone by receiving the estimated density from a parking analysis system and/or by receiving real-time parking usage data from one or more parking service providers and using the real-time parking usage data to calculate the estimated densities, 
 use the estimated densities to select one of the parking zones as a destination zone, 
 provide the autonomous vehicle with a geographic identifier for the destination zone, 
 after the autonomous vehicle has identified an available parking spot in the designated zone, receive a parking transaction request from the autonomous vehicle, and 
 in response to receiving the parking transaction request, initiate a transaction with a parking service provider to authorize the autonomous vehicle to park in the destination zone for a period of time. 
   
     
     
         20 . The autonomous vehicle parking system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the parking location request includes a current location for the autonomous vehicle and a next pickup location for the autonomous vehicle;   the instructions to identify one or more parking zones that are proximate to the autonomous vehicle comprise instructions to:
 access a data set of parking zones, in which each parking zone is associated with a location, and 
 select, from the data set, one or more parking zones that are associated with a location that is less than a first threshold distance from the current location for the autonomous vehicle and less than a second threshold distance from the next pickup location.