Patent Publication Number: US-2021170888-A1

Title: Autonomous vehicle fueling with centralized scheduling

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Vehicles can be equipped to operate in both autonomous and occupant piloted mode. Refueling stations can be equipped to refuel autonomous vehicles without occupant assistance and can include liquid fuel, compressed gas and electric charging. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of a vehicle in accordance with disclosed examples; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of a refueling station in accordance with disclosed examples; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of a refueling station in accordance with disclosed examples; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart diagram of a process to move vehicles to fueling zones based on control signals in accordance with disclosed examples; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart diagram of a process to determine and transmit control signals for multiple vehicles in accordance with disclosed examples. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Vehicles can be equipped to operate in both autonomous and occupant piloted mode. By a semi- or fully-autonomous mode, defined more fully below we mean in short a mode of operation wherein a vehicle can be piloted by a computing device as part of a vehicle information system having sensors and controllers. The vehicle can be occupied or unoccupied, but in either case the vehicle can be piloted without assistance of an occupant. Vehicles can be powered by a variety of fuel types, including liquid petroleum- or alcohol-based fuels, compressed gases such as liquefied petroleum or hydrogen, or electricity. For all fuel types, vehicles can be equipped to be refueled at refueling stations. 
     Refueling stations can be equipped to provide a variety of refueling options including automated and manual fueling, fuel type and filler type/location. Fuels can include liquid petroleum or alcohol fuels, compressed gases or electric charging. Fueling can be fully automated, requiring the vehicle to be in autonomous mode and operable to respond to commands from a fuel pump, or fueling can be manual, requiring some assistance of an attendant or occupant to complete. Vehicles can require refueling while in autonomous mode. Vehicles in autonomous mode can be programmed to locate refueling stations. 
     Equipping vehicles with wireless networks operative to communicate with other vehicles and fueling control computers associated with refueling stations can permit one or more vehicles in autonomous mode to refuel at the refueling station. In cases where vehicles include occupants, one or more occupant preferences can be communicated to the fueling control computer and other vehicles. Wireless networks can include cellular telephone networks, Wi-Fi, and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) technology including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or other wireless technologies, for example. Fueling control computer can direct one or more vehicles via wireless networks to refuel the vehicles efficiently while satisfying occupant preferences. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a vehicle information system  100  that includes a vehicle  110  operable in autonomous (“autonomous” by itself in this disclosure means “fully autonomous”) and occupant piloted (also referred to as non-autonomous) mode in accordance with disclosed implementations. Vehicle  110  also includes one or more computing devices  115  for performing computations for piloting the vehicle  110  during autonomous operation. Computing devices  115  can receive information regarding the operation of the vehicle from sensors  116 . 
     The computing device  115  includes a processor and a memory such as are known. Further, the memory includes one or more forms of computer-readable media, and stores instructions executable by the processor for performing various operations, including as disclosed herein. For example, the computing device  115  may include programming to operate one or more of vehicle brakes, propulsion (e.g., control of acceleration in the vehicle  110  by controlling one or more of an internal combustion engine, electric motor, hybrid engine, etc.), steering, climate control, interior and/or exterior lights, etc., as well as to determine whether and when the computing device  115 , as opposed to a human operator, is to control such operations. 
     The computing device  115  may include or be communicatively coupled to, e.g., via a vehicle communications bus as described further below, more than one computing devices, e.g., controllers or the like included in the vehicle  110  for monitoring and/or controlling various vehicle components, e.g., a powertrain controller  112 , a brake controller  113 , a steering controller  114 , etc. The computing device  115  is generally arranged for communications on a vehicle communication network such as a bus in the vehicle  110  such as a controller area network (CAN) or the like; the vehicle  110  network can include wired or wireless communication mechanism such as are known, e.g., Ethernet or other communication protocols. 
     Via the vehicle network, the computing device  115  may transmit messages to various devices in the vehicle and/or receive messages from the various devices, e.g., controllers, actuators, sensors, etc., including sensors  116 . Alternatively, or additionally, in cases where the computing device  115  actually comprises multiple devices, the vehicle communication network may be used for communications between devices represented as the computing device  115  in this disclosure. Further, as mentioned below, various controllers or sensing elements may provide data to the computing device  115  via the vehicle communication network. 
     In addition, the computing device  115  may be configured for communicating through a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V-to-I) interface  111  with a remote server computer  120 , e.g., a cloud server, via a network  130 , which, as described below, may utilize various wired and/or wireless networking technologies, e.g., cellular, BLUETOOTH® and wired and/or wireless packet networks. The computing device  115  also includes nonvolatile memory such as are known. Computing device can log information by storing the information in nonvolatile memory for later retrieval and transmittal via the vehicle communication network and V-to-I interface  111  to a server computer  120  or user mobile device  160 . 
     As already mentioned, generally included in instructions stored in the memory and executed by the processor of the computing device  115  is programming for operating one or more vehicle  110  components, e.g., braking, steering, propulsion, etc., without intervention of a human operator. Using data received in the computing device  115 , e.g., the sensor data from the sensors  116 , the server computer  120 , etc., the computing device  115  may make various determinations and/or control various vehicle  110  components and/or operations without a driver to operate the vehicle  110 . For example, the computing device  115  may include programming to regulate vehicle  110  operational behaviors such as speed, acceleration, deceleration, steering, etc., as well as tactical behaviors such as a distance between vehicles and/or amount of time between vehicles, lane-change minimum gap between vehicles, left-turn-across-path minimum, time-to-arrival at a particular location and intersection (without signal) minimum time-to-arrival to cross the intersection. 
     Controllers, as that term is used herein, include computing devices that typically are programmed to control a specific vehicle subsystem. Examples include a powertrain controller  112 , a brake controller  113 , and a steering controller  114 . A controller may be an electronic control unit (ECU) such as is known, possibly including additional programming as described herein. The controllers may communicatively be connected to and receive instructions from the computing device  115  to actuate the subsystem according to the instructions. For example, the brake controller  113  may receive instructions from the computing device  115  to operate the brakes of the vehicle  110 . 
     The one or more controllers  112 ,  113 ,  114  for the vehicle  110  may include known electronic control units (ECUs) or the like including, as non-limiting examples, one or more powertrain controllers  112 , one or more brake controllers  113  and one or more steering controllers  114 . Each of the controllers  112 ,  113 ,  114  may include respective processors and memories and one or more actuators. The controllers  112 ,  113 ,  114  may be programmed and connected to a vehicle  110  communications bus, such as a controller area network (CAN) bus or local interconnect network (LIN) bus, to receive instructions from the computing device  115  and control actuators based on the instructions. 
     Sensors  116  may include a variety of devices known to provide data via the vehicle communications bus. For example, a radar fixed to a front bumper (not shown) of the vehicle  110  may provide a distance from the vehicle  110  to a next vehicle in front of the vehicle  110 , or a global positioning system (GPS) sensor disposed in the vehicle  110  may provide a geographical coordinates of the vehicle  110 . The distance provided by the radar or the geographical coordinates provided by the GPS sensor may be used by the computing device  115  to operate the vehicle  110  autonomously or semi-autonomously. 
     The vehicle  110  is generally a land-based vehicle  110  operable in autonomous and occupant piloted mode having three or more wheels, e.g., a passenger car, light truck, etc. The vehicle  110  includes one or more sensors  116 , the V-to-I interface  111 , the computing device  115  and one or more controllers  112 ,  113 ,  114 . 
     The sensors  116  may be programmed to collect data related to the vehicle  110  and the environment in which the vehicle  110  is operating. By way of example, and not limitation, sensors  116  may include, e.g., altimeters, cameras, LiDAR, radar, ultrasonic sensors, infrared sensors, pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, hall sensors, optical sensors, voltage sensors, current sensors, mechanical sensors such as switches, etc. The sensors  116  may be used to sense the environment in which the vehicle  110  is operating such as weather conditions, the grade of a road, the location of a road or locations of neighboring vehicles  110 . The sensors  116  may further be used to collect dynamic vehicle  110  data related to operations of the vehicle  110  such as velocity, yaw rate, steering angle, engine speed, brake pressure, oil pressure, the power level applied to controllers  112 ,  113 ,  114  in the vehicle  110 , connectivity between components and electrical and logical health of the vehicle  110 . 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart diagram of a process  400  for refueling vehicles  110  in autonomous operation described in relation to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Process  400  can be implemented on computing device  115 , inputting information from sensors  116 , executing instructions and sending control signals via controllers  112 ,  113 ,  114 , for example. Process  400  includes multiple steps taken in the disclosed order. Process  400  also includes implementations including fewer steps or can include the steps taken in different orders. 
     Process  400  begins at step  402 , where computing device  115  according to the process  400  transmits one or more fueling request signals to a fueling control computer  202  at a refueling station  200  as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , where arriving vehicle  204  can transmit one or more fueling request signals to a fueling control computer  202 . Arriving vehicle can establish short range communications with fueling control computer  202  via wireless networking, including cellular telephone networks and Wi-Fi via V-to-I interface  111 , and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) technology, for example Bluetooth low energy (BLE) (see www.bluetooth.com, Bluetooth SIG, Inc., Aug. 8, 2016), for example, to communicate with fueling control computer  202  having similar networking capability. 
     An arriving vehicle  204 , whether autonomous, semi-autonomous, or occupant piloted, can establish short range communications with fueling control computer  202  and transmit fueling request signals that inform the fueling control computer  202  of the type and amount of fuel requested and the operating characteristics of fueling such as location of fuel input and refueling technique, including automatic or manual. 
     At step  404  Fueling control computer  202  can receive the fueling request signals and determine fueling control signals including instructions to move to one or more waiting zones  206 , one or more service zones  210  or one or more served zones  208  and transmit the fueling control signals to arriving vehicle  204 . The fueling control signals can include instructions to move to one or more waiting zones  206 , one or more service zones  210 . Once an arriving vehicle  204  is refueled, fueling control signals can include instructions to move to or one or more served zones  208 . 
     Fueling control computer  202  can require, for example, that all arriving vehicles  204  be wirelessly networked and capable of autonomous operation. In this case, fueling control signals can include instructions to the computing device  115  to move the vehicle to the indicated zones autonomously. In this manner, arriving vehicles  204  could be queued up in waiting zones  206  to access fuel pumps  212  in service zones  210 , and then moved to served zones  208 . 
     This progression is shown in  FIG. 3 , where arriving vehicle  304  transmits fueling request signals to fueling control computer  302  at a refueling station  300  via wireless networking. Fueling control computer  302  receives fueling request signals from arriving vehicle  304  and processes them to determine fueling control signals to transmit to arriving vehicle  304 . 
     Arriving vehicle  304  can also communicate wirelessly with vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 , which can be included in waiting zones  306 , service zones  310 , served zones  316  or amenities  326  to coordinate movement of arriving vehicle  304  such as queueing in service zones  310  and parking at amenities  326  with vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328 , for example. 
     Fueling control computer  302  has transmitted fueling control signals wirelessly to move waiting vehicles  308  to waiting zones  306 , fueling vehicles  318  to fueling stations  312  at service zones  310  or served vehicles  318  to served zones  316  following refueling. Fueling computer can determine how to move vehicles in order to reduce waiting time for the most vehicles, or other algorithms designed to improve efficiency of service delivery. 
     Returning to  FIG. 4 , at step  406  the one or more vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  receiving fueling control signals from fueling control computer  302  move to or from the appropriate fueling zones, including waiting zones  306 , service zones  310  or served zones  316 . The vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320   328  in autonomous mode and programmed to follow instructions included in fueling control signals transmitted by fueling control computer  302 . Fueling request signals and fueling control signals can include financial information related to refueling, so that payment can be made as the fuel is dispensed. 
     Once refueling is complete, fueling control computer  302  can transmit fueling control signals to one or more vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  to either join served vehicles  320  at served zones  316  or depart the refueling station  300 , as shown by departing vehicle  324 . 
     In one example, vehicles that are not capable of autonomous operation could be accommodated by fueling control computers  302  if the vehicle could transmit and receive the appropriate signals via wireless network and translate the fueling controls signals into human language, such as “GO TO PUMP 8, PARK WITHIN YELLOW LINES AND OPEN FUEL DOOR”, for example. If the occupant pilots the vehicle appropriately and concludes the financial aspects of refueling via wireless network, refueling could be achieved without autonomous control. 
     At some refueling stations  200 ,  300 , for safety and efficiency, autonomous control of arriving vehicles  204 ,  304  can be required. Since arriving vehicles  204 ,  304  can be occupied, and since occupants can have preferences regarding refueling and amenities  214 ,  326 , occupant preferences can be included in fueling request signals. Occupant preferences can include requests to visit amenities  214 ,  326  in addition to refueling. Amenities  214 ,  326  include restrooms, restaurants, shops, picnic, pet areas and parking for example. Parking can include handicapped, short-term and rest areas and drop off and pickup areas. Waiting zones  206 ,  306  can also include parking, for example. 
     In one example, arriving vehicle  304  can transmit fueling request signals to fueling control computer  302  indicating that arriving vehicle requests a certain amount of a certain type fuel, and has a fueling system with certain operating characteristics. Fueling request signals can include occupant preferences including a request to visit amenities  326  to use a restroom, for example. Fueling control computer  302  can receive and process fueling request signals from arriving vehicle  304  along with fueling request signals from other vehicles  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  and determine fueling control signals to transmit to arriving vehicle  304 . 
     The fueling control signals can include instructions to arriving vehicle  304  to move to a parking space at amenities  326  near a restroom, for example. Occupant preferences can include requests for amenities  326  such as handicapped parking or nearby parking due to inclement weather. Fueling control computer  302  can receive these fueling request signals and transmit fueling control signals that satisfy the occupant&#39;s preferences by including instructions to move arriving vehicle to the appropriate amenities  326  or waiting, service or served zones  306 ,  310 ,  316 . 
     Once the arriving vehicle  304  is parked at the amenities  326 , occupant can exit the arriving vehicle  304  to visit the restroom, for example. Arriving vehicle  304  can transmit a fueling request signal to the fueling control computer  302  indicating the occupant&#39;s exit. Fueling control computer  302  can transmit fueling control signals to arriving vehicle  304  instructing arriving vehicle  304  to move to a service zone  310  for refueling. 
     Since fueling control computer can recall that an occupant associated with arriving vehicle  304  exited the arriving vehicle  304  to visit amenities  326 , when refueling is complete for arriving vehicle  304 , fueling control computer  302  can send fueling control signals to arriving vehicle  304  including instructions to move to served zones  316  to join served vehicles  320 . Fueling control signals can instruct the arriving vehicle  304  to move to a served zone  316  near the amenities  326 . In this manner, the arriving vehicle  304  can be positioned so that the occupant can conveniently reoccupy the arriving vehicle  304  and depart the refueling station, as shown by departing vehicle  324 . 
     In this manner, the arriving vehicle  304  can be refueled as soon as the appropriate fueling station  312  is available, thereby optimizing utilization of fueling stations  312  associated with service zones  310  and minimizing a wait for refueling while satisfying occupant preferences associated with refueling station  300  amenities  326 . In other cases, where arriving vehicle  304  can be unoccupied or where occupant stays in the arriving vehicle, once refueling is complete arriving vehicle  304  can depart, as shown by departing vehicle  324 . 
     In summary,  FIG. 4  illustrates a process  400  for fueling autonomous vehicles with centralized scheduling by transmitting fueling request signals from vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  to a fueling control computer  302 , transmitting fueling control signals from fueling control computer  302  to vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328 , and moving vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  324  to one or more zones  306 ,  310 ,  316  or amenities  326  based on instructions from fueling control computer  302 . 
     Computing devices  115  associated with arriving vehicle  304  can repeat process  400  multiple times at refueling station  300  respectively in order to refuel arriving vehicles  304  while satisfying occupant preferences. For example, arriving vehicles  304  can move amenities  326 , drop off occupant then repeat process  400  and move to a waiting zone  306 . When a fueling station  312  becomes available, steps  404  and  406  of process  400  can be repeated to move arriving vehicles  304  to one or more fueling stations  312 . 
     When fueling is complete, steps  404  and  406  of process  400  can be repeated to move vehicle  304  to serve zones  316  to join served vehicles  320  to wait for occupant to return from amenities,  326  for example, or depart, as shown by departing vehicle  324 . Computing devices associated with fueling control computer  302  can also transmit messages via wireless networks to mobile devices such as cell phones to alert occupant that refueling is complete and arriving vehicle  304  is moving to served zone  316 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart diagram of an example process  500  for centralized scheduling of vehicle  110  refueling for vehicles  110  in autonomous operation described in relation to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Process  500  can be implemented on a computing device including a processor and nonvolatile memories such as are known associated with fueling control computer  202 ,  302 , wirelessly networked to vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  324  as described above. Process  500  includes multiple steps taken in the disclosed order. Process  500  also includes implementations including fewer steps or can include the steps taken in different orders. 
     Process  500  begins at step  502 , where fueling control computer  302  receives fueling request signals from vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  via wireless network. Request signals can include fueling request information and occupant preference information. At step  504  fueling control computer  302  determines control signals including instructions to move to certain zones  306 ,  310 ,  316  for the vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328 . 
     The control signals can be determined based on probability theory regarding servicing clients arriving at random intervals to minimize wait times, constrained by the occupant requests, for example. Large numbers of requests and limited resources can mandate queuing. Fueling control computer can manage queues for service zones  310  and for amenities  326  associated with refueling station  300 , for example. Service at a service zone can include refueling at a fueling station  312  and amenities  326  can include restrooms, restaurants, shops, picnic, pet areas and parking for example. Parking can include handicapped, short-term and rest areas and drop off and pickup areas. 
     Vehicles  308  in waiting zones  306  can be in queues waiting for parking or service, for example. Queues can be managed on a first-in, first-out basis. Single queues for multiple identical resources can be implemented to minimize average wait times, for example. Queues can change dynamically as vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  enter and exit refueling station  300  and transmit new fueling request signals to fueling control computer  302 . This can require transmitting new fueling control signals to vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328 . 
     At step  506  the fueling control computer  302  transmits the fueling control signals to the vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  via wireless network. The fueling control signals include instructions to move one or more of vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  to one or more of zones  306 ,  310 ,  316  so as to optimize refueling while satisfying occupant preferences. Fueling control computer  302  can monitor vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  324  via wireless network to determine compliance with the transmitted instructions, for example. Other techniques for monitoring compliance with transmitted instructions include video or other sensors, for example. 
     In summary,  FIG. 5  is a process  500  for centralized scheduling of autonomous vehicle scheduling by a fueling control computer  302  operative to receive fueling request signals from vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328 , optimally schedule refueling while satisfying occupant preferences by transmitting fueling control signals to vehicles  304 ,  308 ,  318 ,  320 ,  328  instructing them to move to zones  306 ,  310 ,  316  and amenities  326 . 
     Computing devices such as those discussed herein generally each include instructions executable by one or more computing devices such as those identified above, and for carrying out blocks or steps of processes described above. For example, process blocks discussed above may be embodied as computer-executable instructions. 
     Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, HTML, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored in files and transmitted using a variety of computer-readable media. A file in a computing device is generally a collection of data stored on a computer readable medium, such as a storage medium, a random access memory, etc. 
     A computer-readable medium includes any medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions), which may be read by a computer. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, etc. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. 
     All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their plain and ordinary meanings as understood by those skilled in the art unless an explicit indication to the contrary in made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary. 
     The term “exemplary” is used herein in the sense of signifying an example, e.g., a reference to an “exemplary widget” should be read as simply referring to an example of a widget. 
     The adverb “approximately” modifying a value or result means that a shape, structure, measurement, value, determination, calculation, etc. may deviate from an exact described geometry, distance, measurement, value, determination, calculation, etc., because of imperfections in materials, machining, manufacturing, sensor measurements, computations, processing time, communications time, etc. 
     In the drawings, the same reference numbers indicate the same elements. Further, some or all of these elements could be changed. With regard to the media, processes, systems, methods, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claimed invention.