Apple patent involves ‘authorized remote control’ for an Apple Car

 Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11858459 B1) for “Authorized Remote Control” for a vehicle.

I’m 99.9% sure that the first version of an Apple-made car (assuming it ever arrives won’t be self-driving). I’m also sure that an autonomous car is the tech giant’s eventual goal.

About the patent

The patent relates generally to navigation of a vehicle, and in particular to remotely-controlled driving control of the vehicle via a remote control system communicatively coupled to a navigation system of the vehicle via a communication network. 

In the patent Apple notes that the rise of interest in autonomous navigation of vehicles, including automobiles, has resulted in a desire to develop autonomous navigation systems which can autonomously navigate (i.e., autonomously “drive”) a vehicle through various routes, including one or more roads in a road network, such as contemporary roads, streets, highways, etc. 

Such autonomous navigation systems can control one or more automotive control elements of the vehicle to implement such autonomous navigation. Such control by the autonomous navigation system in a vehicle can be referred to as autonomous driving control of the vehicle.

Apple notes that vehicles that include autonomous navigation systems may enable one or more occupants to manually control one or more vehicle control elements of the vehicle, such that one or more occupants of the vehicle can manually navigate (“drive”) the vehicle. Such control by an occupant can be referred to as manual driving control of the vehicle. Apple wants to make this possible with an Apple Car, even one that’s self-driving.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Some embodiments provide a vehicle navigation system which can navigate a vehicle through an environment based on driving commands received from a remote control system based on manual operator interaction with an interface of the remote control system. Remote driving control can be engaged based on determination, via processing vehicle sensor data, of a health emergency associated with one or more occupants of the vehicle, and the remote control system can generate remote driving commands which cause the vehicle to be navigated to a particular location without requiring the occupant associated with the health emergency to manually navigate the vehicle. 

“The remote control system can monitor the occupant via communicated vehicle sensor data and can control remote control devices included in the vehicle to provide external indication that the vehicle is being navigated according to remote driving control.”