Mobile device tethering for a remote parking assist system of a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10688918-B2
Application number	US-201815860284-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 2, 2018
Priority date	Jan 2, 2018
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

Method and apparatus are disclosed for mobile device tethering for a remote parking assist system of a vehicle. An example vehicle includes projection lamps and a body control module. The body control module determines a distance of a mobile device from the vehicle. The body control module also projects a representation of a boundary around the vehicle using the projection lamps and modifies the representation of the boundary based on the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle and an operational state of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
projection lamps; and
a body control module to:
determine a distance of a mobile device from the vehicle by using wireless communication between the mobile device and the body control module;
project a representation of a boundary around the vehicle via the projection lamps;
modify the representation of the boundary based on the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle and an operational state of the vehicle.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the body control module is to modify the representation of the boundary when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) in response to attempting to determine the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle, the mobile device is not detected.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as a blinking red line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) in response to attempting to determine the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle, the mobile device is not detected.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the body control module is to modify the representation of the boundary when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is greater than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary.

5. The vehicle of claim 4 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as a solid red line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is greater than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the body control module is to modify the representation of the boundary when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the vehicle is stationary.

7. The vehicle of claim 6 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as a solid green line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the vehicle is stationary.

8. The vehicle of claim 6 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as a dashed line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the vehicle is stationary.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the body control module is to modify the representation of the boundary when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the vehicle is in motion.

10. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as a blinking green line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the vehicle is in motion.

11. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as an animated dashed line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the vehicle is in motion.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the animated dashed line is animated to indicate a direction of travel of the vehicle.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the body control module is to modify the representation of the boundary when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the mobile device is proximate the threshold distance.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein to modify the representation of the boundary, the body control module is to project the representation of the boundary as a yellow line when (a) autonomous parking is enabled and (b) the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and (c) the mobile device is proximate the threshold distance.

15. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the body control module is to, when autonomous parking is enabled:
modify the representation of the boundary to display a first pattern when in response to determining the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle, the mobile device is not detected; and
modify the representation of the boundary to display a second pattern when the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is greater than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary.

16. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the body control module is to, when autonomous parking is enabled and the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary:
modify the representation of the boundary to display a third pattern when the vehicle is stationary; and
modify the representation of the boundary to display a fourth pattern when the vehicle is in motion.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the body control module is to, when autonomous parking is enabled, the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle is less than a threshold distance indicated by the representation of the boundary, and the mobile device is proximate the threshold distance:
modify the representation of the boundary to display a fifth pattern when the vehicle is stationary; and
modify the representation of the boundary to display a sixth pattern when the vehicle is in motion.

18. The vehicle of claim 1 , including a lighting fixture comprising individually controllable lighting elements, and wherein the body control module is to illuminate particular ones of the lighting elements based on the distance of the mobile device from the vehicle and an operational state of the vehicle.

19. The vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the lighting elements include light emitting diodes.

20. The vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the lighting elements include headlights and an illuminating vehicle badge.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Elangovan Vivekanandh
• Golgiri Hamid M
• Lavoie Erick Michael

Classifications

• B60Q1/488 Primary

  for indicating intention to park · CPC title

• B60Q1/48 Primary

  for parking purposes · CPC title

• B60Q1/507

  specific to autonomous vehicles · CPC title

• B60Q1/543

  for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle (indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045) · CPC title

• B60S13/00 Primary

  Vehicle-manoeuvring devices separate from the vehicle (vehicle lifting {, e.g. liftable turntables} or pushing devices B66F; {workshop equipment B25H}) · CPC title