Updating a pick-up or drop-off location for a passenger of an autonomous vehicle

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle (AV) described herein is configured to receive a pull over location specified by a passenger, and is further configured to refine the pull over location based upon one or more factors, where the factors include computer-readable content from a profile of the passenger, sensor data output by sensor systems of the AV, observed or predicted weather conditions, observed or predicted traffic, and/or observations recently generated by other AVs that belong to the same fleet as the AV.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computing system comprising:
 a processor; and   memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
 identifying a pickup location for a user as specified by the user in a request for a ride with an autonomous vehicle (AV); 
 obtaining information about the pickup location; 
 identifying an updated pickup location for the user based upon:
 the information obtained about the pickup location; and 
 information in a computer-readable profile of the user that is indicative of mobility of the user, wherein the updated pickup location is different from the pickup location, and further where the AV navigates to the updated pickup location upon the updated pickup location being identified. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the AV comprises the computing system. 
     
     
         3 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the information that is indicative of the mobility of the user comprises information that is indicative of health of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the information that is indicative of the mobility of the user comprises an indication that the user enjoys walking. 
     
     
         5 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
 determining a distance between the pickup location and the updated pickup location; and   when the distance between the pickup location and the updated pickup location is greater than a threshold, transmitting a notification to a device of the user to inform the user of the updated pickup location.   
     
     
         6 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the information about the pickup location comprises information generated based upon output of a sensor of the AV. 
     
     
         7 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the information about the pickup location comprises information generated based upon output of a sensor of a second AV, where the AV and the second AV belong to a fleet of AVs. 
     
     
         8 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the information about the pickup location comprises current or predicted traffic at the pickup location. 
     
     
         9 . The computing system of  claim 8 , wherein the updated pickup location is identified based further upon current or predicted traffic at the updated pickup location. 
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the updated pickup location comprises executing a cost function, wherein the cost function outputs a cost value based upon a distance between the pickup location and the updated pickup location, and further wherein the updated pickup location is identified based upon the cost value. 
     
     
         11 . A method performed by a computing system, the method comprising:
 obtaining a request for a ride in an autonomous vehicle (AV), where the request for the ride is set forth by a user by way of a computing device, and further where the request for the ride identifies a pickup location specified by the user;   accessing a computer-readable profile for the user, where the computer-readable profile comprises information that is indicative of mobility of the user;   obtaining information pertaining to the pickup location;   identifying an updated pickup location where the AV is to pickup the user instead of the pickup location, where the updated pickup location is identified based upon:
 the information pertaining to the pickup location; and 
 the information in the computer-readable profile that is indicative of the mobility of the user, wherein upon the updated pickup location being identified, the AV navigates to the updated pickup location to pickup the user rather than the pickup location. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the AV comprises the computing system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein obtaining the information pertaining to the pickup location comprises obtaining traffic information at the pickup location. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein obtaining the information pertaining to the pickup location comprises obtaining weather information at the pickup location. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein obtaining information pertaining to the pickup location comprises obtaining information that is based upon output of a sensor of the AV. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein obtaining information pertaining to the pickup location comprises obtaining information that is based upon output of a sensor of a second AV, where the AV and the second AV belong to a fleet of AVs. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
 obtaining a request for a ride in an autonomous vehicle (AV), where the request for the ride is set forth by a user by way of a computing device, and further where the request for the ride identifies a pickup location specified by the user;   accessing a computer-readable profile for the user, where the computer-readable profile comprises information that is indicative of mobility of the user;   obtaining information pertaining to the pickup location;   identifying an updated pickup location where the AV is to pickup the user instead of the pickup location, where the updated pickup location is identified based upon:
 the information pertaining to the pickup location; and 
 the information in the computer-readable profile that is indicative of the mobility of the user, wherein upon the updated pickup location being identified, the AV navigates to the updated pickup location to pickup the user rather than the pickup location. 
   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the AV comprises the non-transitory computer-readable medium. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein obtaining the information pertaining to the pickup location comprises obtaining traffic information at the pickup location. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein obtaining the information pertaining to the pickup location comprises obtaining weather information at the pickup location.