Apple’s “Vehicle Summoning in the Mobile Ecosystem” patent published

According to the patent abstract, the mobile ecosystem of the invention includes a vehicle with an autonomous control system, and the system can obtain vehicle location information, and user location information in a user device.

If the user information is estimated to be higher than the confidence level in the confidence threshold value of the cost function, the system can determine that the user is ready to be picked up by the vehicle, and then identify the vehicle pick-up, determine the pick-up trajectory. If it is below the confidence level in the confidence threshold, it can determine that the user is ready to be tracked by the vehicle.

Apple's patent is similar to Tesla's "Smart Summon (Smart Summon)" function, which is a vehicle assistance function introduced by Tesla in 2019.

According to Tesla's official introduction, the Smart Summon function supports the vehicle to drive autonomously to avoid obstacles, and can reach the owner in front of the owner or the owner's designated location. But the function has certain requirements for the site, limited to the use of "private parking areas and driveways.

Tesla reminds the owner to pay attention to the surrounding environment when using the Smart Call function, if the car is about to hit an obstacle, or the danger of collision with pedestrians, bicycles, etc., as long as the Smart Call button is released, the vehicle will stop moving.