FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to autonomous vehicle servicing and control. In particular, autonomous vehicles can be controlled to facilitate vehicle services. In some instances, multiple autonomous vehicles can be controlled to facilitate a single vehicle service.

BACKGROUND

An autonomous vehicle can be capable of sensing its environment and navigating with little to no human input. In particular, an autonomous vehicle can observe its surrounding environment using a variety of sensors and can attempt to comprehend the environment by performing various processing techniques on data collected by the sensors. Given knowledge of its surrounding environment, the autonomous vehicle can navigate through such surrounding environment.

SUMMARY

Aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be learned from the description, or may be learned through practice of the embodiments.

One example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a computer-implemented method for multi-autonomous vehicle servicing. The method includes receiving, by a computing system including one or more computing devices, a service request for a vehicle service. The service request includes a start location and an end location. The method includes determining, by the computing system, a vehicle route from the start location to the end location. The method includes identifying, by the computing system, a plurality of candidate vehicles from a plurality of autonomous vehicles. Each candidate vehicle in the plurality of candidate vehicles is available to perform at least one portion of the vehicle route. The method includes obtaining, by the computing system, data indicative of one or more operational capabilities for each candidate vehicle in the plurality of autonomous vehicles. The method includes segmenting, by the computing system, the vehicle route into one or more route segments based, at least in part, on the one or more operational capabilities associated with each autonomous vehicle in the plurality of autonomous vehicles. The method includes assigning, by the computing system, at least two candidate vehicles to perform the vehicle service by assigning at least one of the one or more route segments to each of the at least two candidate vehicles. And, the method includes communicating, by the computing system, data indicative of the service request to the at least two candidate vehicles.

Another example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a computer-implemented method for multi-autonomous vehicle servicing. The method includes receiving, by a computing system including one or more computing devices, a service request for a vehicle service. The service request includes a start location and an end location. The method includes determining, by the computing system, a vehicle route from the start location to the end location. The method includes determining, by the computing system, a plurality of candidate vehicles from a plurality of vehicles, wherein each candidate vehicle in the plurality of candidate vehicles is available to perform at least one portion of the vehicle route. The method includes segmenting, by the computing system, the vehicle route into one or more route segments based, at least in part, on one or more operational capabilities associated with each vehicle in the plurality of vehicles. The method includes assigning, by the computing system, at least two candidate vehicles to perform the vehicle service by assigning at least one of the one or more route segments to each of the at least two candidate vehicles. And, the method includes communicating, by the computing system, data indicative of the service request to the at least two candidate vehicles.

Yet another example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to an autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle includes one or more processors and one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include receiving a service request for a vehicle service. The service request includes a start location and an end location. The operations also include determining vehicle route from the start location to the end location. In addition, the operation includes identifying a plurality of candidate vehicles from a plurality of autonomous vehicles. Each candidate vehicle in the plurality of candidate vehicles is available to perform at least one portion of the vehicle route. The operations include segmenting the vehicle route into one or more route segments based, at least in part, on one or more operational capabilities associated with each autonomous vehicle in the plurality of autonomous vehicles. The operations include assigning at least two candidate vehicles to perform the vehicle service by assigning at least one of the one or more route segments to each of the at least two candidate vehicles. And, the operations include communicating data indicative of the service request to the at least two candidate vehicles.

Other example aspects of the present disclosure are directed to systems, methods, vehicles, apparatuses, tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media, and memory devices for controlling autonomous vehicles.

The autonomous vehicle technology described herein can help improve the safety of passengers of an autonomous vehicle, improve the safety of the surroundings of the autonomous vehicle, improve the experience of the rider and/or operator of the autonomous vehicle, as well as provide other improvements as described herein. Moreover, the autonomous vehicle technology of the present disclosure can help improve the ability of an autonomous vehicle to effectively provide vehicle services to others and support the various members of the community in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, including persons with reduced mobility and/or persons that are underserved by other transportation options. Additionally, the autonomous vehicle of the present disclosure may reduce traffic congestion in communities as well as provide alternate forms of transportation that may provide environmental benefits.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of various embodiments will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the related principles.

