Patent ID: 11880858
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 8:
9. A method comprising:
executing, by a first computer of a first vehicle, a prediction procedure to identify a rental vehicle to offer to a customer of a vehicle rental agency, the prediction procedure comprising:
providing a monitoring system of the first vehicle, the monitoring system comprising a sensor system and at least one camera disposed in or on the first vehicle, wherein the sensor system comprises an infrared sensor, a weight sensor, and a microphone, wherein the first vehicle is a personal vehicle owned or leased by the customer,
generating image data with the at least one camera of the first vehicle indicative of at least one physical or behavioral attribute of one or more occupants of the first vehicle, the one or more occupants comprising the customer,
generating presence data corresponding to a presence of the one or more occupants within the first vehicle with the infrared sensor of the first vehicle,
generating weight data associated with the one or more occupants with the weight sensor of the first vehicle,
generating voice data of the one or more occupants with the microphone of the first vehicle, and
evaluating each of the image data, the presence data, the weight data, and the voice data with the first computer to obtain monitoring data,
extracting, from the monitoring data, a personal profile of the customer;
obtaining a vehicle ownership history of the customer;
evaluating the vehicle ownership history of the customer to predict a type of vehicle preferred by the customer; and
confirming the type of vehicle preferred by the customer based on the personal profile of the customer;
selecting, by the first computer, a second vehicle in a fleet of rental vehicles based on the type of vehicle preferred by the customer, the second vehicle not matching the first vehicle; and
designating, by the first computer, the second vehicle as the rental vehicle to be offered to the customer.