Systems and methods for door collision avoidance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10183640-B2
Application number	US-201715436364-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2017
Priority date	Feb 17, 2017
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle includes: (a) a rotatable door including: a door stop assembly configured to arrest opening of the door; a rotatable handle; a haptic feedback assembly arranged to vibrate the handle; (b) processor(s) configured to simultaneously activate the door stop and haptic feedback assemblies. The haptic feedback assembly is disposed within the rotatable handle. The processor(s) are configured to: compute a time-to-collision, and run the haptic feedback assembly at a level based on the time-to-collision.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a sensor;
a door including:
a door stop assembly;
a handle; and
a haptic device; and

a processor to:
detect, via the sensor, a bicycle predicted to intersect a sweep range of the door;
determine a time-to-collision (TTC) of the bicycle; and
simultaneously stop the door from opening, via the door stop assembly, and vibrate the handle, via the haptic device, when the TTC is less than a first threshold.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the haptic device is disposed within the handle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to
cause the haptic device to vibrate the handle at a high level when the TTC is less than the first threshold.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein, when the TTC is greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, the processor is configured to:
not activate the door stop assembly; and
cause the haptic device to vibrate the handle at a low level.

5. The vehicle of claim 4 , wherein, when the TTC is greater than the second threshold, the processor is configured to:
not activate the door stop assembly; and
not cause the haptic device to vibrate the handle.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, to stop the door from opening via the door stop assembly, the processor is configured to:
engage a clutch of the door stop assembly;
determine a door opening torque upon engaging the clutch; and
run a motor of the door stop assembly at a level that is equal and opposite to the door opening torque.

7. A method of comprising:
detecting, via a sensor, a bicycle predicted to intersect a sweep range of a door of a vehicle;
determining, via a processor, a time-to-collision (TTC) between the bicycle and the door; and
responsive to determining that the TTC is less than a first threshold, simultaneously activating a door stop assembly to stop the door from opening and causing a haptic device to vibrate a handle of the door.

8. The method of claim 7 , further including comprising:
causing the haptic feedback device to vibrate the handle at a high level when the TTC is less than the first threshold.

9. The method of claim 8 , further including:
causing the haptic device to run at a low level when the TTC is greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold;
causing the haptic device not to run when the TTC is greater than the second threshold; and
not activating the door stop assembly when the TTC is greater than the first threshold.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein activating the door stop assembly includes:
engaging a clutch of the door stop assembly;
upon engaging the clutch, determining a door opening torque; and
running a motor of the door stop assembly at a level that is equal and opposite to the door opening torque.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, to detect whether the bicycle is to intersect the sweep range of the door, the processor is configured to identify a direction of travel of the bicycle.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to determine the TTC of the bicycle in response to predicting an opening event of the vehicle.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to predict the opening event based upon at least one of the vehicle being in park, a seatbelt becoming disengaged, a weight sensor of a seat detecting a reduced amount of weight, a capacitive sensor of the handle, and an image captured by an interior camera.

14. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to determine the TTC based upon at least one of a position, a velocity, an acceleration, and a direction of travel of the bicycle.

15. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, to stop the door from opening, the processor is configured to activate linear actuators of inhibitors of the door stop assembly.

16. The method of claim 7 , further including detecting whether the bicycle is to intersect the sweep range of the door by identifying a direction of travel of the bicycle.

17. The method of claim 7 , wherein the TTC between the bicycle and the door is determined in response to predicting an opening event of the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the opening event is predicted based upon at least one of the vehicle being in park, a seatbelt becoming disengaged, a weight sensor of a seat detecting a reduced amount of weight, a capacitive sensor of the handle, and an image captured by an interior camera.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein the TTC is determined based upon at least one of a position, a velocity, an acceleration, and a direction of travel of the bicycle.

20. The method of claim 7 , wherein activating the door stop assembly includes activating linear actuators of inhibitors.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Rhode Douglas Scott
• Tellis Levasseur
• Schmidt David J

Classifications

• B60J5/04

  arranged at the vehicle sides {(panel mounted arm-rests B60N2/78; wall liners B60R13/02; door edge guards B60R13/043; padded linings associated with the side doors B60R21/0428)} · CPC title

• E05F15/622

  using screw-and-nut mechanisms · CPC title

• E05F15/40

  Safety devices, e.g. detection of obstructions or end positions · CPC title

• E05F15/73

  responsive to movement or presence of persons or objects · CPC title

• E05C17/006

  with means for detecting obstacles outside the doors · CPC title