Enhanced vehicle activation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434719-B2
Application number	US-201916659117-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 21, 2019
Priority date	Oct 21, 2019
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

A computer includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to receive a request to activate a vehicle, receive diagnostic data for one or more vehicle components from an activation component, arbitrate the request and the diagnostic data to identify an activation mode of the vehicle that is one of an unpowered mode, a power-up mode, or a fully-started mode, and instruct the activation component to activate one or more vehicle components associated with the identified activation mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising a computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
receive a request to activate a vehicle;
receive diagnostic data for one or more vehicle components from an activation component;
select only one of the request and the diagnostic data;
select an activation mode of the vehicle that is one of an unpowered mode, a power-up mode, or a fully-started mode according to the selected one of the request and the diagnostic data while excluding the other of the request and the diagnostic data as a basis for selecting the activation mode; and
instruct the activation component to activate one or more vehicle components associated with the selected activation mode.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to, upon activating the vehicle in the fully-started mode, select an operation mode of the vehicle that is one of a manual mode, an autonomous mode, or a stopped mode according to the selected one of the request and the diagnostic data while excluding the other of the request and the diagnostic data as a basis for selecting the operation mode.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to operate the vehicle in the stopped mode and, then, to select a second operation mode of the vehicle that is one of the manual mode or the autonomous mode based on the diagnostic data.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to transition from the manual mode or the autonomous mode to the stopped mode.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to select the activation mode based on received data from at least one of a virtual driving controller or an occupancy sensor.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify a fault in one of the vehicle components based on the diagnostic data.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to, upon activating the vehicle in the power-up mode, perform a diagnostic test of one or more vehicle components and, based on the diagnostic test, select an operation mode of the vehicle that is one of a manual mode, an autonomous mode, or a stopped mode.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to select one of the request and the diagnostic data and select the activation mode further include instructions to select the unpowered mode and to ignore the request when the diagnostic data indicate a fault in one or more vehicle components.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to select one of the request and the diagnostic data and select the activation mode further include instructions to select the power-up mode when the diagnostic data indicate no fault in the vehicle components.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to select one of the request and the diagnostic data and select the activation mode further include instructions to select the fully-started mode when the activation component indicates that a powertrain is operational.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to select one of the request and the diagnostic data and select the activation mode further include instructions to select the fully-started mode when the diagnostic data indicate that a propulsion power supply is operational.

12. A method, comprising:
receiving a request to activate a vehicle;
receiving diagnostic data for one or more vehicle components from an activation component;
selecting only one of the request and the diagnostic data;
selecting an activation mode of the vehicle that is one of an unpowered mode, a power-up mode, or a fully-started mode according to the selected one of the request and the diagnostic data while excluding the other of the request and the diagnostic data as a basis for selecting the activation mode; and
instructing the activation component to activate one or more vehicle components associated with the selected activation mode.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, upon activating the vehicle in the fully-started mode, selecting an operation mode of the vehicle that is one of a manual mode, an autonomous mode, or a stopped mode according to the selected one of the request and the diagnostic data while excluding the other of the request and the diagnostic data as a basis for selecting the operation mode.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising operating the vehicle in the stopped mode and, then, selecting a second operation mode of the vehicle that is one of the manual mode or the autonomous mode based on the diagnostic data.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising transitioning from the manual mode or the autonomous mode to the stopped mode.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising selecting the activation mode based on received data from at least one of a virtual driving controller or an occupancy sensor.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising identifying a fault in one of the vehicle components based on the diagnostic data.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising selecting the activation mode as the unpowered mode upon identifying the fault.

19. A system, comprising:
a vehicle activation component;
a virtual driver controller;
one or more vehicle motion controllers;
a remote device;
means for selecting only one of an activation request from the remote device and diagnostic data from the vehicle activation component and the vehicle motion controllers; and
means for selecting an activation mode according to the selected one of the request and the diagnostic data while excluding the other of the request and the diagnostic data as a basis for selecting the activation mode.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to instruct the activation component to activate the vehicle into the selected activation mode.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Kuang Ming Lang
• Malone Mark Douglas
• King Daniel M
• Niu Yuming
• Celinske David
• Lauffer Scott J
• Siciak Ray
• Jorgensen John David
• Ramani Jayeshkumar
• Jain Suvrat

Classifications

• B60W10/04

  including control of propulsion units · CPC title

• G07C5/008

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title

• G07C5/0808

  Diagnosing performance data (testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005) · CPC title

• B60W40/08

  related to drivers or passengers · CPC title

• B60W30/192 Primary

  Mitigating problems related to power-up or power-down of the driveline, e.g. start-up of a cold engine · CPC title