Methods and apparatus to facilitate safety checks for high-performance vehicle features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10471968-B2
Application number	US-201815870329-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2018
Priority date	Jan 12, 2018
Publication date	Nov 12, 2019
Grant date	Nov 12, 2019

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed to facilitate safety checks for high-performance vehicle features. An example vehicle comprises a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, sensors, a processor and a memory. The GPS receiver generates location information. The sensors generate road information. The processor and memory are in communication with the sensors and the GPS receiver. The processor is configured to: determine a road type using the location information; determine a road clearance status using the road information; and generate a warning message including an override button based on one or more of the road type and the road clearance status.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to generate location information;
sensors to generate road information; and
a display;
a processor and memory in communication with the sensors and the GPS receiver and configured to:
determine a road type using the location information;
determine a road clearance status using the road information;
present, via the display, a warning message that includes an override button based on one or more of the road type and the road clearance status; and
send a notification message to a remote mobile device when the override button is selected by a driver.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the processor is further configured to determine a road hazard status using the road information; and
the warning message is further based on the road hazard status.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) transceiver to provide weather information and wherein:
the processor is further configured to determine a weather status using the weather information; and
the warning message is further based on the weather status.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the sensors are to generate tire information;
the processor is further configured to determine a tire status using the tire information; and
the warning message is further based on the tire status.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to pause execution of a selected vehicle feature based on at least one of the road type or the road clearance status.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to release execution of the selected vehicle feature if the override button is selected by the driver.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine authorization of a key;
start the vehicle in response to determining that the key is authorized to start the vehicle; and
stop execution of a selected high-performance vehicle feature in response to determining that the key authorized to start the vehicle is unauthorized to start the selected high-performance vehicle feature.

8. A method comprising:
determining, with a processor, a road type using location information provided by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver;
determining, with the processor a road clearance status using road information generated by sensors;
generating, with the processor, a warning message based on at least one of the road type or the road clearance status, the warning message including an override button; and
sending, with the processor, a notification message to a remote mobile device if the override button is selected by a driver.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining, with the processor, a road hazard status using the road information, wherein the warning message is further based on the road hazard status.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining, with the processor, a weather status using weather information generated by a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) transceiver, wherein the warning message is further based on the weather status.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining, with the processor, a tire status using tire information generated by the sensors, wherein the warning message is further based on the tire status.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising pausing, with the processor, execution of a selected vehicle feature based on at least one of the road type or the road clearance status.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising releasing, with the processor, execution of the selected vehicle feature if the override button is selected by the driver.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining, with the processor, authorization of a key;
starting the vehicle in response to determining that the key is authorized to start the vehicle; and
when the vehicle is started, stopping execution of a selected high-performance vehicle feature in response to determining that the key authorized to start the vehicle is unauthorized to start the selected high-performance vehicle feature.

15. A system comprising:
a central facility having a database of weather information;
a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) transceiver disposed in a vehicle and in communication with the database;
sensors disposed in the vehicle to generate road information;
a global positioning system (GPS) receiver disposed in the vehicle to generate location information of the vehicle; and
a processor in communication with the DSRC transceiver, the sensors, and the GPS receiver and configured to:
determine a road type based on the location information;
determine a road clearance status based on the road information;
determine a weather status based on the weather information;
pause execution of a selected vehicle feature based on one or more of the road type, the location information, and the weather information; and
send a notification message to a mobile device in response to detecting selection of the override button.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a warning message if execution of the selected vehicle feature is paused, the warning message including an override button and an exit button.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the DSRC transceiver is in communication with the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to end execution of the selected vehicle feature if the exit button is selected.

19. The system of claim 15 , further comprising memory in communication with the processor to store a tire reference and a tire threshold and wherein:
the sensors further generate tire information; and
the processor is further configured to:
determine a difference between the tire information and the tire reference;
determine a tire status based on the difference and the tire threshold; and
pause execution of the selected vehicle feature based on the tire status.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine authorization of a key;
start the vehicle in response to determining that the key is authorized to start the vehicle; and
stop execution of a selected high-performance vehicle feature in response to determining that the key authorized to start the vehicle is unauthorized to start the selected high-performance vehicle feature.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Krishnan Venkatesh
• Cutler Scott
• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef

Classifications

• B60W50/14 Primary

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title

• B60W2555/20

  Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain · CPC title

• B60W2552/35

  Road bumpiness, e.g. potholes · CPC title

• B60W2552/05

  Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title