FIELD

This invention relates generally to shared personal transport vehicles, and, more particularly, to usage tracking for shared dockless personal transport vehicles using narrow-band Internet-of-Things networks.

BACKGROUND

The convenience of owning a vehicle can often be overshadowed by a number of costs (e.g., purchase, fuel, parking, maintenance, etc.) and other frustrations. Over time, a number of categories of alternatives have become available. One category includes buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation. While public transportation can be relatively inexpensive and convenient for some people in some places, use of public transportation options can often be frustrated by limited schedules, limited routes, inconvenient stations, long wait times, etc. Another category of such alternatives involves taxis, car services, or ridesharing services; but the cost and convenience can often be highly dependent on traffic and availability.

Another category of such alternatives involves docked personal transport vehicles, such as non-electric bicycles, electric bicycles, and electric scooters. Typically, a docking station is installed in a particular location, and the docking station may include a number of docks into which the personal transport vehicles can be parked. A consumers can pay (e.g., at a pay station or via a smart phone application) on a usage and/or subscription basis, allowing the consumer to undock (unlock and remove from the dock) the personal transport vehicle for use, and to re-dock (park in the dock and re-lock) the personal transport vehicles after use. Such docked personal transport vehicles can provide consumers with access, speed, and other conveniences of a personal transport vehicle; without the consumer having to purchase a personal transport vehicle, to pay for maintenance or parking, etc. A significant downside to docked personal transport vehicles is convenience. Installation of docking stations tends to involve appreciable space, logistics, expense, such that availability of docking stations tends to be limited. Accordingly, it is common for the pickup and/or drop-off location of docked personal transport vehicles to be inconvenient to consumers, which tends to appreciably limit their use and desirability.

In recent years, so-called “dockless” personal transport vehicle services have begun to be offered in an effort to address some of the limitations of docked transport vehicle services. Dockless personal transport vehicle services are typically similar to their docked counterparts, except that there are no docking stations; personal transport vehicles can be parked by one consumer in a location convenient to that consumer, and subsequently retrieved from that location by a next consumer. For example, a consumer can use a smart phone application, or the like, to discover a location of an available one of the personal transport vehicles. When in proximity to the available personal transport vehicle, the consumer can use the smart phone application to request use of the personal transport vehicle, to remit payment for use of the personal transport vehicle, and to receive an unlock code to enable use of the personal transport vehicle. While dockless personal transport vehicle services can provide increased convenience to consumers, certain concerns have tended to limit the availability and desirability of such services. For example, consumers often park the personal transport vehicles in undesirable locations, such as laid down in the middle of a sidewalk, or in a location that is generally inconvenient to other consumers.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Among other things, embodiments provide novel systems and methods for usage tracking for shared dockless personal transport vehicles (PTVs) over one or more communications networks. Various technical features encourage interactions between consumers and PTVs that are desirable to the providers of dockless PTV services, such as by encouraging consumers to park the PTVs in a desirable condition and in desirable locations. For example, embodiments obtain location data from at least one sensor (e.g., a camera of a smart phone) indicating a parked location of a PTV of a fleet of shared PTVs. A set of parked location attributes is computed in accordance with the obtained location data, and an arbitration determination is computed indicating whether the set of parked location attributes meets a stored set of acceptance criteria. In accordance with a favorable computed arbitration determination, embodiments can output lock control data for a vehicle lock of the PTV (e.g., to lock the PTV in its parked location).

According to one set of embodiments, a usage tracking system is provided for shared dockless PTVs. The system includes: a location capture device to obtain location data from at least one sensor indicating a parked location of a PTV of a fleet of shared PTVs; a location characterization processor in communication with the location capture device to compute a set of parked location attributes in accordance with the location data; a non-transient data store having stored thereon a set of acceptance criteria; a parking arbitration processor in communication with the location characterization processor to compute an arbitration determination indicating whether the set of parked location attributes meets the set of acceptance criteria; and a lock control processor to communicate lock control data for a vehicle lock coupled with the personal transport vehicle in response to the arbitration determination indicating that the set of parked location attributes meets the set of acceptance criteria.

According to another set of embodiments, a method is provided for usage tracking for shared dockless PTVs. The method includes: obtaining location data from at least one sensor indicating a parked location of a PTV of a fleet of shared PTVs; computing a set of parked location attributes in accordance with the location data; computing an arbitration determination indicating whether the set of parked location attributes meets a stored set of acceptance criteria; and communicating lock control data for a vehicle lock coupled with the personal transport vehicle in response to the arbitration determination indicating that the set of parked location attributes meets the set of acceptance criteria.

According to another set of embodiments, another usage tracking system is provided for shared dockless PTVs. The system includes one or more processors and a memory. The memory is communicatively coupled with, and readable by, the one or more processors and has stored thereon processor-readable instructions. When the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors are caused to: obtain location data from at least one sensor indicating a parked location of a PTV of a fleet of shared PTVs; compute a set of parked location attributes in accordance with the location data; compute an arbitration determination indicating whether the set of parked location attributes meets a stored set of acceptance criteria; and output lock control data for a vehicle lock coupled with the personal transport vehicle in response to the arbitration determination indicating that the set of parked location attributes meets the set of acceptance criteria.

This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.

The foregoing, together with other features and embodiments, will become more apparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings.

