Tesla Patent Shows Clear Robotaxi Solutions
Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.
Not that anyone needs it, but we’ve got more proof that Tesla is thinking seriously about robotaxi service and trying to prepare its table for that. Tesla has been awarded a patent for automatic cleaning — well, sanitizing — of enclosed spaces (i.e., vehicle interiors) shared by multiple people (i.e., passengers in taxis or robotaxis).
Here’s the exact summary language from the patent: “The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for sanitizing an enclosed space that can be shared among multiple persons. In some embodiments, a sanitation system detects a current environmental condition associated with the enclosed space to generate sensor data. The sanitation system then obtains or generates a sanitation routine based at least in part on the sensor data. Based on the sanitation routine, the sanitation system causes a component associated with the enclosed space to adjust the current environmental condition toward a target environmental condition, where the sanitation routine specifies the component and the target environmental condition.”
There’s an extensive body of text in the patent that could make your eyes bleed, but an independent patent researcher, “SETI Park,” nicely summarizes the key features.
Key features include:
▫️ Environmental detection through various sensors: detecting temperature, humidity, presence of pathogens, etc.
▫️ Customized sanitation routines: generating appropriate sanitation routines based on detected environmental conditions.
▫️ Various sanitation methods: utilizing HVAC systems, UV lighting, steam generators, etc.
▫️ Automated processes: automatically executing sanitation processes when people are absent.
▫️ Adaptive system: adjusting sanitation methods considering external weather, vehicle usage history, etc.
If you think we’re reading too much into it being for robotaxis, don’t worry, there’s proof of that too.
The patent also discloses a vehicle sharing cycle utilizing this system (Figure 11):
1️⃣ Vehicle owner’s use
2️⃣ Environmental detection and sanitation after parking
3️⃣ Other passenger’s vehicle use
4️⃣ Re-sanitation after passenger disembarkation
5️⃣ Moving to a sanitation spot for more thorough sanitation if necessary
Does this mean Tesla is almost ready to roll out robotaxis? No, of course not, but it does indicate that Tesla is thinking about and working on more than just the self-driving software and hardware. But it’s really all about the self-driving software and hardware. Until that is ready, all the self-sanitizing patents in the world aren’t going to bring us robotaxis. Stay tuned. In the meantime, perhaps be happy that Tesla is thinking more about the human and operational process inside the robotaxi’s passenger compartment. What I’d like to see next are some nice reclining seats with pillows that will help you to have a good snooze on your trip to work, the gym, sporting events, dinner, home, or whatever.
Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 10–15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica's Comment Policy
