Smart vehicle travel preparation and location-based servicing features for mobile device tools and methods of use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11657656-B2
Application number	US-202016751758-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2020
Priority date	Jan 25, 2019
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

Control methods and systems including a smart vehicle, a smart mobile device including a processor, a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, and machine readable instructions stored in the memory that may cause a system to perform at least the following when executed by the processor: use a software application tool of the smart mobile device to automatically control and monitor functionality of an internet of things (IOT) environment of the smart vehicle and to identify the smart vehicle type; autopopulate the software application tool with dynamic checklists based on the smart vehicle details; and utilize and/or modify the dynamic checklists during vehicle preparation, travel, and/or servicing based on dynamic IOT control features.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A smart mobile device comprising a user interface and a user interface controller, wherein:
the user interface comprises a display;
the user interface controller is configured to receive vehicle feature state indications from a smart vehicle, the smart vehicle comprising an Internet of Things (TOT) controller, the TOT controller configured to acquire and monitor data from vehicle TOT devices to generate the vehicle feature state indications; and
the user interface controller comprises a processor and non-transitory computer readable storage comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the user interface controller to cooperate with the TOT controller and the user interface to
receive a vehicle configuration and a first vehicle property that comprises a first vehicle feature state indication associated with a first vehicle operational component for the first vehicle property from the smart vehicle,
receive a context indication via the user interface, the context indication representative of an activity context for the first vehicle property,
generate a checklist comprising one or more first tasks based on the first vehicle property and the activity context,
display the checklist at the display,
receive a second vehicle property that comprises a second vehicle feature state indication associated with a second vehicle operational component for the second vehicle property from the smart vehicle,
generate a modified checklist including a checklist modification based on the second vehicle property, the checklist modification comprising an addition to the checklist of one or more second tasks based on the second vehicle property, a modification of at least one of the one or more first tasks, a removal of at least one of the one or more first tasks, or combinations thereof, and
display the modified checklist at the display.

2. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein:
the smart vehicle comprises a plurality of vehicle features, the plurality of vehicle features comprising an HVAC system, a vents system, a toilet, a potable water reservoir, a reusable water reservoir, a waste water reservoir, a solar panel, a battery, a lighting system, a security system, a camera system, or combinations thereof.

3. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first vehicle feature state indication comprises an indication of a first vehicle feature state of a first vehicle feature of a plurality of vehicle features, and
the second vehicle feature state indication comprises an indication of a second vehicle feature state of a second vehicle feature of the plurality of vehicle features.

4. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first vehicle feature state indication comprises an indication of a first vehicle feature state of a first vehicle feature of a plurality of vehicle features, and
the second vehicle feature state indication comprises an indication of a second vehicle feature state of the first vehicle feature of the plurality of vehicle features.

5. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein:
the smart mobile device is communicatively coupled to a cloud network via a communication path that couples the smart device with the cloud network; and
the instructions to receive the first vehicle property comprise instructions to download the vehicle configuration from a static database stored in the cloud network.

6. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle configuration comprises a type of the smart vehicle, an indication of one or more vehicle features installed at the smart vehicle, or combinations thereof.

7. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the activity context comprises a trip departure, a campsite arrival, or a campsite departure.

8. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage further comprises instructions to enable a user to manually modify the checklist via the display of the user interface.

9. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein:
the checklist and the modified checklist comprise a dynamic and modifiable checklist comprising one or more tasks based on the activity context, the one or more tasks comprising the one or more first tasks, the one or more second tasks, or combinations thereof.

10. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first tasks comprise a task to service the vehicle feature when the first vehicle feature state indication meets at least one servicing threshold.

11. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage further comprises instructions to:
determine a vehicle location of the smart vehicle;
receive a third vehicle feature state indication from the TOT controller of a state of a vehicle feature of the smart vehicle to service;
determine whether the third vehicle feature state indication meets at least one servicing threshold;
identify one or more servicing providers suitable to service the vehicle feature based on the state of the vehicle feature to service and the vehicle location when the third vehicle feature state indication meets the at least one servicing threshold, the one or more servicing providers located within a predetermined proximity of the vehicle location; and
display the one or more servicing providers with the modified checklist at the display.

12. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage further comprises instructions to determine whether the second vehicle feature state indication meets at least one servicing threshold associated with the activity context.

13. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein:
the non-transitory computer readable storage further comprises instructions to determine whether the second vehicle feature state indication meets at least one servicing threshold;
the one or more second tasks comprise a service task to service a vehicle feature associated with the second vehicle feature state indication; and
the checklist modification comprises the addition to the checklist of the service task when the vehicle feature state indication meets the at least one servicing threshold.

14. The smart mobile device of claim 1 , wherein
a vehicle feature is associated with the second vehicle feature state indication and the first vehicle feature state indication,
the instructions to generate the checklist comprise instructions that cause the user interface controller to determine whether the first vehicle feature state indication meets at least one servicing threshold,
the one or more first tasks comprise a task to service the vehicle feature associated with the first vehicle feature state indication when the first vehicle feature state indication meets the at least one servicing threshold,
the instructions to generate the modified checklist comprise instructions that cause the user interface controller to determine whether the second vehicle feature state indication meets the least one servicing threshold,
the checklist modification comprises the removal of at least one of the one or more first tasks when the first vehicle feature state indication meets the at least one servicing threshold and the second vehicle feature state indication does not meet the at least one servicing threshold, and
the removal of the at least one of the one or more first tasks comprises a removal of the task to service the vehicle feature associated with the first vehicle feature state indication.

15. A smart mobile device comprising a user interface and a user interface controller, wherein:
the user interface

Assignees

• Thor Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Sandu Ciprian R
• Kriesel Jason T
• Featherstone Mckay R
• Brady Edward
• Hileman Steven

Classifications

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• G16Y40/10

  Detection; Monitoring · CPC title

• G16Y40/30

  Control · CPC title

• G07C5/0816

  Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction · CPC title

• G07C5/0825

  using optical means · CPC title