A method, by a computing device of a first autonomous escort vehicle of a convoy that includes multiple autonomous escort vehicles, that includes: receiving, from a central computing device associated with the convoy, an instruction to prevent one or more environmental vehicles from interfering with movements of the convoy, wherein the instruction is determined by the central computing device based on first sensor data from one or more autonomous escort vehicles in the convoy and the movements of the convoy; determining, based on second sensor data from one or more sensors of the first autonomous escort vehicle, a set of movements for preventing the one or more environmental vehicles from interfering with the movements of the convoy; and performing the set of movements.

A travel assistance device for assisting traveling of a subsequent vehicle following a vehicle group in the form of vehicle platooning, the travel assistance device being located in a last vehicle of a plurality of vehicles included in the vehicle group, the travel assistance device including: an information acquiring unit for acquiring information indicating right/left turning vehicles that turn right or left at an intersection among the vehicles and information indicating deceleration timing of a first vehicle from front among the right/left turning vehicles; and a direction indicator controlling unit for turning on a direction indicator of the last vehicle at the deceleration timing of the foremost right/left turning vehicle.

A front trunk (frunk) delivery system is disclosure for a vehicle. For one embodiment, the delivery system includes a vehicle trunk at a front portion of the vehicle. The system includes a vehicle trunk lid covering the vehicle trunk. The system includes a bar code at the vehicle. The bar code is to be captured by a mobile device of a first user to remotely operate the vehicle trunk lid for the vehicle trunk to deliver or retrieve (for returns) a delivery parcel/package. The first user can be a third party delivery operator such as a USPS or an Amazon delivery operator.

Aspects of the disclosure provide for displaying notifications on a display of an autonomous vehicle. In one instance, a distance from the vehicle to a destination of the vehicle or a passenger may be determined. When the distance is between a first distance and a second distance, a first notification may be displayed on the display. The second distance may be less than the first distance. When the distance is less than the second distance, a second notification may be displayed on the display. The second notification provides additional information not provided by the first notification.

Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous vehicles and associated mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware, computer software and systems, and wired and wireless network communications to provide an autonomous vehicle fleet as a service. In particular, a method may include identifying a location of a user device associated with a user, transmitting a command to an autonomous vehicle system associated with an autonomous vehicle service to transit to the location, and providing information associated with the user device to the autonomous vehicle system, where the information includes configuration data to adapt one or more sub-systems of the autonomous vehicle. Sub-systems of the autonomous vehicle may include interior lighting, ambient sound, road handling, seating configuration, communication synchronization, and temperature control systems.

Provided are an apparatus and method for selectively selecting and controlling interior and exterior displays of a vehicle. The apparatus includes an input unit configured to receive driving environment information, a memory configured to store a program for controlling interior and exterior displays of a vehicle according to a driving environment, and a processor configured to execute the program. The processor controls at least one of the interior and exterior displays to selectively project display information in consideration of the driving environment information by transmitting a control command signal for the at least one of the interior and exterior displays.

Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous vehicles and associated mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware, computer software and systems, and wired and wireless network communications to provide map data for autonomous vehicles. In particular, a method may include accessing subsets of multiple types of sensor data, aligning subsets of sensor data relative to a global coordinate system based on the multiple types of sensor data to form aligned sensor data, and generating datasets of three-dimensional map data. The method further includes detecting a change in data relative to at least two datasets of the three-dimensional map data and applying the change in data to form updated three-dimensional map data. The change in data may be representative of a state change of an environment at which the sensor data is sensed. The state change of the environment may be related to the presence or absences of an object located therein.

The invention relates to a method, performed by a control device (10), for controlling a vehicle lighting device (100), the vehicle lighting device (100) includes the control device (10); and at least one electronic display unit (20) arranged at one end (12, 14) of a vehicle (1), wherein the control device (10) is arranged to control the at least one display unit (20) to show various types of vehicle lights (22). The method includes: collecting (s101) data relating to the vehicle surroundings; and controlling (s102) the at least one display unit (20) to adapt at least one vehicle light (22) based on the collected data.

One variation of a method for communicating state, intent, and context of an autonomous vehicle includes: at a first time, displaying a first icon representing a current state of a vehicle on a rear-facing visual display arranged on the vehicle; navigating toward an intersection; at a second time, detecting a state of the intersection ahead of the vehicle; rendering a second icon representing the state of the intersection at the second time on the rear-facing visual display; detecting a change in the state of the intersection at a third time succeeding the second time; selecting a next navigation action for the vehicle responsive to the change in the state of the intersection at the third time; prior to executing the next navigation action, rendering a third icon representing the next navigation action on the rear-facing visual display; and autonomously executing the next navigation action.

By way of example, novel systems and methods for reproducing advertisements on connected vehicles are disclosed. In one example embodiment, a system for delivering advertisements include a plurality of connected vehicles participating in an advertisement event, and the plurality of connected vehicles is each configured to receive an instruction from one of the connected vehicles or a server over a network to cluster near or at a target area for reproducing an advertisement in a coordinated manner as a group of the connected vehicles.