On-board vehicle query system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11198446-B2
Application number	US-201916240571-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 4, 2019
Priority date	Jan 4, 2019
Publication date	Dec 14, 2021
Grant date	Dec 14, 2021

Abstract

Generally described, the present disclosure relates to the efficient management and compact presentation of data or content with respect to a vehicle. For example, an operator of a vehicle may desire content related to vehicle operation, including, among many other forms of data, user manual information, warranty information, parts data, maintenance logs, etc. The disclosed techniques can use query inputs to optimize data presentation and provide augmented data to a user via an interactive user interface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for accessing content for a vehicle, the system comprising:
a database storing vehicle operational content formatted as a plurality of segmented portions each associated with a set of contextual metadata;
a computer-readable memory storing executable instructions; and
at least a processor in communication with the computer-readable memory and programmed by the executable instructions to at least:
receive, over at least one network, updates to individual segmented portions of the plurality of segmented portions including at least an update to a particular segmented portion;
receive data representing a query spoken by a user;
perform natural language processing on the data representing the query;
determine that the query includes a request for a portion of the vehicle operational content based at least in part on a result of the natural language processing;
identify the particular segmented portion of the plurality of segmented portions based at least in part on the set of contextual metadata of the particular segmented portion and the result of the natural language processing;
generate a user interface for presenting the particular segmented portion on a display associated with the vehicle, wherein the user interface is generated to reflect the update to the particular segmented portion;
determine a driving status of one or both of the vehicle and the user; and
when the driving status indicates that it is safe for the user to view information on the display, cause output of the user interface on the display, or when the driving status indicates that it is not safe for the user to view information on the display, store data representing the user interface for later output on the display.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
store a version of the particular segmented portion corresponding to a version of a user manual of the vehicle that is available at a time of storing the version.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the driving status is in motion in response to determining that the vehicle is in motion above a predetermined threshold, and wherein the in-motion driving status indicates that it is not safe for the user to view information on the display.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the query originates from an operator of the vehicle; and
in response to determining the query originates from the operator, cause output of an audible reading of the particular segmented portion through a speaker.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the display is in a field of view of an operator of the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a set of vehicle controls relevant to the query; and
generate the user interface to include navigational links to the vehicle controls.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the user interface to include an animation of instructions included with the set of vehicle controls to animate the relevant set of vehicle controls.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive contextual content from at least one remote data source to augment the particular segmented portion; and
present the contextual content as part of the user interface.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
storing a version of vehicle operational content, the vehicle operational content formatted as a plurality of segmented portions each associated with contextual metadata;
receiving, over at least one network, an update to the vehicle operational content including at least an update to a particular segmented portion of the plurality of segmented portions;
receiving data representing a query spoken by a user;
performing natural language processing on the data representing the query;
determining that the query includes a request for a portion of the vehicle operational content based at least in part on a result of the natural language processing;
identifying the particular segmented portion of the plurality of segmented portions based at least in part on the set of contextual metadata of the particular segmented portion and the result of the natural language processing;
generating a user interface for presenting the particular segmented portion on a display associated with the vehicle, wherein the user interface is generated to reflect the update to the particular segmented portion;
determining a driving status of one or both of the vehicle and the user; and
when the driving status indicates that it is safe for the user to view information on the display, cause output of the user interface on the display, or when the driving status indicates that it is not safe for the user to view information on the display, store data representing the user interface for later output on the display.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 ,
wherein the version of vehicle operational content corresponds to a version of a user manual of the vehicle that is available at a time of storing the version.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising determining that the driving status is in motion in response to determining that the vehicle is in motion above a predetermined threshold, wherein the in-motion driving status indicates that it is not safe for the user to view information on the display.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining whether the query originates from an operator of the vehicle; and
in response to determining the query originates from the operator, causing output of an audible reading of the particular segmented portion through a speaker.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the display is in a field of view of an operator of the vehicle.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining a set of vehicle controls relevant to the query; and
generating the user interface to include navigational links to the vehicle controls.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , further comprising generating the user interface to include an animation of instructions included with the set of vehicle controls to animate the relevant set of vehicle controls.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving contextual content from at least one remote data source to augment the particular segmented portion; and
presenting the contextual content as part of the user interface.

17. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations comprising:
storing a version of vehicle operational content, the vehicle operational content formatted as a plurality of segmented portions each associated with contextual metadata;
receiving, over at least one network, an update to the vehicle operational content including at least an update to a particular segmented portion of the plurality of segmented portions;
receiving data representing a query spoken by a user;
performing natural language processing on the data representing the query;
determining that the query includes a request for a portion of the vehicle operational content based at least in part on a result of the natural language processing;
identifying the particular segmented portion of the plurality of segmented por

Assignees

• Faraday & Future Inc

Inventors

• Garcia Mario R
• Turano Eric M
• Kim Jungseop

Classifications

• B60K35/28

  characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver · CPC title

• B60K35/85

  Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data · CPC title

• B60K35/22

  Display screens · CPC title

• B60K35/26

  using acoustic output · CPC title

• G10L15/22

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title