Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Aysha Habbaba

Hyung Min Baek

Lynn Valerie Keiser

John Weizhong Luo

Jinesh J Jain

Sudipto Aich

Jennifer L Brace

Yuzhou Li

William Donald Hass

Lindsay Chan

Tatiana Ferreyra

Addarsh Chandrasekar

Alexander Brudner

Simon Murtha Smith

Alexander Silvio Muller

A system for delivering items or packages to an unattended vehicle after receiving an order for delivery of an item or package to a vehicle is disclosed. The system determines identifying information for the vehicle, where the identifying information includes a wireless identifier of the vehicle. The system determines a delivery location of the vehicle. The system transmits a request to dispatch a delivery vehicle to deliver a package to the vehicle, wherein the request comprises the identifying information and the delivery location.

Item delivery to an unattended vehicle

Techniques and examples pertaining to parking management and communication of parking information are described. A processor of a computing apparatus may obtain sensor data regarding a parking lot from a parking lot controller. The processor may analyze the sensor data. The processor may receive, from a client, a request for assistance with parking at the parking lot. The processor may provide, to the client, information on a location and status of a space (e.g., open space) in the parking lot, a path to the space, or both.

Parking management and communication of parking information

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for delivering items to unattended vehicles. In general, aspects of the invention facilitate controlled access to one or more portions of a vehicle for item deliver. A vehicle is configured with partitions. The partitions can be deployed to close off portions of the vehicle from an area used to accept a delivered item. Partitions may be automatically deployed when a delivery arrives (from a delivery person or robot) to section off a compartment of the vehicle to limit access to the sectioned compartment. Partitions can be re-configured to prevent external access to the sectioned off compartment after a delivery is completed.

Delivering items to unattended vehicles

A controller of an autonomous vehicle receives a travel itinerary of a passenger and an airport map. The controller then uses the airport map to arrive at a terminal corresponding to the passenger's travel itinerary. Upon arrival at the terminal the controller communicates with parked vehicles (V2V) or infrastructure to identify an unoccupied parking spot and then autonomously parks. When picking up a passenger, the controller determines whether the passenger has checked luggage and adjusts and arrival time accordingly and may account for the storage volume of the luggage. The controller may also loop a circuit at the airport where a wait time has been exceeded. In some embodiments, augmented reality may be used to help the passenger identify the vehicle.

Picking up and dropping off passengers at an airport using an autonomous vehicle

A versatile storage system for storing objects of varying sizes comprises a plurality of structural members and a plurality of flexible cords. The flexible cords are attached to at least two of the structural members at an angle substantially normal with the structural members. The structural members are configured to hold the flexible cords taut such that an object may be woven through the flexible cords and stored securely therein.

Multiuse storage and holding solution

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Dearborn, MI, United States of America

Aysha Habbaba