Displaying automated driving system status for vehicle occupant awareness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12319306-B2
Application number	US-202318326270-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2023
Priority date	May 31, 2023
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

A system for providing information to an occupant of a vehicle includes an automated driving system, a display configured to provide information to the occupant, and a controller in electrical communication with the automated driving system and the display. The controller is programmed to determine an automation confidence level for a location of interest using the automated driving system. The location of interest is a location in an environment surrounding the vehicle. The controller is further programmed to notify the occupant using the display based at least in part on the automation confidence level.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for providing information to an occupant of a vehicle, the system comprising:
an automated driving system;
a display configured to provide information to the occupant, wherein the display includes an augmented reality head-up display (AR-HUD) system including an occupant position tracking device and an AR-HUD projector; and
a controller in electrical communication with the automated driving system and the display, wherein the controller is programmed to:
determine an automation confidence level for a location of interest using the automated driving system, wherein the location of interest is a location in an environment surrounding the vehicle; and
notify the occupant using the AR-HUD system based at least in part on the automation confidence level by displaying a notification graphic overlayed on the location of interest, wherein to display the notification graphic overlayed on the location of interest, the controller is further programmed to:
compare the automation confidence level for the location of interest to a first automation confidence level threshold;
compare the automation confidence level for the location of interest to a second automation confidence level threshold;
generate a first graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is greater than or equal to the first automation confidence level threshold;
generate a second graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is less than the second automation confidence level threshold;
generate a third graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is less than the first automation confidence level threshold and greater than or equal to the second automation confidence level threshold;
determine a position of the occupant of the vehicle using the occupant position tracking device;
calculate a size, shape, and location of at least one of the first graphic, the second graphic, and the third graphic based on the position of the occupant and the location of interest; and
display at least one of the first graphic, the second graphic, and the third graphic on a windscreen of the vehicle using the AR-HUD system based on the size, shape, and location.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of vehicle sensors in electrical communication with the controller, wherein to determine the automation confidence level for the location of interest, the controller is further programmed to:
perform a plurality of measurements of the environment surrounding the vehicle using the plurality of vehicle sensors; and
determine the automation confidence level for the location of interest using the automated driving system based at least in part on the plurality of measurements.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein to determine the automation confidence level for the location of interest using the automated driving system, the controller is further programmed to:
determine the automation confidence level for the location of interest based at least in part on at least one of an environmental condition and a roadway condition.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein to display the notification graphic overlayed on the location of interest using the display, the controller is further programmed to:
compare the automation confidence level for the location of interest to a first automation confidence level threshold;
generate a first graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is greater than or equal to the first automation confidence level threshold;
generate a second graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is less than the first automation confidence level threshold; and
display at least one of the first graphic and the second graphic using the display.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first graphic includes a first distinguishing characteristic, the second graphic includes a second distinguishing characteristic, and the third graphic includes a third distinguishing characteristic, wherein the first, second, and third distinguishing characteristics include at least one of: a graphic color, a graphic size, a graphic shape, and a graphic texture, and wherein the first, second, and third distinguishing characteristics differ from each other.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the display further includes a transparent windscreen display (TWD) system in electrical communication with the controller, wherein the TWD system includes transparent phosphors embedded in the windscreen of the vehicle and a TWD projector, and wherein to display at least one of the first graphic, the second graphic, and the third graphic, the controller is further programmed to:
calculate a size, shape, and location of at least one of the first graphic, the second graphic, and the third graphic based on the location of interest; and
display at least one of first graphic, the second graphic, and the third graphic on the windscreen of the vehicle using the TWD system based on the size, shape, and location.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the automated driving system is configured to be used in at least one of: a manual operation mode, a partially automated operation mode, and a fully automated operation mode.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first graphic includes a green arrow indicating that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is greater than or equal to the first automation confidence level threshold.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second graphic includes a red arrow indicating that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is less than the second automation confidence level threshold.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the third graphic includes a yellow arrow indicating that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is less than the first automation confidence level threshold and greater than or equal to the second automation confidence level threshold.

11. The system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of measurements includes at least one of: measurements of environmental conditions, measurements of roadway conditions, and information received from external systems.

12. A method for providing information to an occupant of a vehicle, the method comprising:
determining an automation confidence level for a location of interest using an automated driving system, wherein the location of interest is a location in an environment surrounding the vehicle; and
notifying the occupant using a display based at least in part on the automation confidence level by displaying a notification graphic overlayed on the location of interest using the display, wherein displaying the notification graphic overlayed on the location of interest using the display further comprises:
comparing the automation confidence level for the location of interest to a first automation confidence level threshold;
comparing the automation confidence level for the location of interest to a second automation confidence level threshold;
generating a first graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is greater than or equal to the first automation confidence level threshold;
generating a second graphic in response to determining that the automation confidence level for the location of interest is less than the second automation confidence level threshold;
generating a third graphic in response to determining that the automation confi

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc
• Wisconsin Alumni Res Found

Inventors

• Szczerba Joseph F
• Mathieu Roy J
• Rajavenkatanarayanan Akilesh
• Lee Joonbum
• Rheem Hansol
• Lee John D

Classifications

• B60K35/60

  Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10) · CPC title

• 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

• B60K35/23

  Head-up displays [HUD] (optical aspects of head-up displays G02B27/01) · CPC title

• B60W50/14 Primary

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

• B60K35/29 Primary

  Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions · CPC title