Steering wheel control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016185385-A1
Application number	US-201514805377-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 21, 2015
Priority date	Dec 31, 2014
Publication date	Jun 30, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure set forth a technique for modifying different vehicle parameters based on bimanual input. The technique includes acquiring sensor data associated with a first finger and a second finger of a user. The technique further includes analyzing the sensor data to determine a first location of the first finger and a second location of the second finger. The technique further includes selecting a first vehicle parameter based on the first location of the first finger, and modifying the first vehicle parameter based on the second location of the second finger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to modify vehicle parameters based on bimanual input, by performing the steps of:
acquiring sensor data associated with a first finger and a second finger of a user; analyzing the sensor data to determine a first location of the first finger and a second location of the second finger; selecting a first vehicle parameter based on the first location of the first finger; and modifying the first vehicle parameter based on the second location of the second finger.

2 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein modifying the first vehicle parameter is performed based on determining that the first finger moved to the first location and the second finger moved to the second location at substantially the same time.

3 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein modifying the first vehicle parameter is performed based on determining that the second finger moved to the second location within a threshold period of time subsequent to the first finger moving to the first location.

4 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the sensor data to determine that the second finger moved from the second location to a third location while the first finger remained at the first location, and, in response, increasing or decreasing the first vehicle parameter.

5 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein the first vehicle parameter is increased or decreased by an amount that is based on a distance between the second location and the third location.

6 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein modifying the first vehicle parameter comprises increasing or decreasing the first vehicle parameter based on a distance between the second location and a reference location on a steering wheel.

7 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising:
analyzing the sensor data to determine a third location of the first finger and a fourth location of the second finger; selecting a second vehicle parameter based on the third location of the first finger; and modifying the second vehicle parameter based on the fourth location of the second finger

8 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein each of the first vehicle parameter and the second vehicle parameter comprises at least one of a multimedia parameter, a navigation parameter, a climate control parameter, and a vehicle throttle parameter.

9 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first finger and the second finger comprise a left thumb of the user and a right thumb of the user.

10 . A system for modifying vehicle parameters based on bimanual input, the system comprising:
at least one sensor configured to acquire sensor data associated with hands of a user; a processor coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to:
analyze the sensor data to determine a first location of a finger of the user and a first input performed by a hand of the user;
select a first vehicle parameter based on the first location of the finger; and
modify the first vehicle parameter based on the first input performed by the hand of the user.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to modify the first vehicle parameter based on determining that the finger moved to the first location and the first input was performed by the hand at substantially the same time.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to modify the first vehicle parameter based on determining that the first input was performed by the hand within a threshold period of time subsequent to the finger moving to the first location.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a force sensor coupled to a steering wheel, and the first input comprises at least one of a torque input, a pressure input, and a shearing input applied to the steering wheel.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to increase the first vehicle parameter when the first input has a first direction and decrease the first vehicle parameter when the first input has a second direction.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a touch sensor, and the first input comprises at least one of a tapping gesture and a swiping gesture.

16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a camera, a depth sensor, an infrared sensor, a time-of-flight sensor, and an ultrasound sensor, and the first input comprises at least one of an up gesture, a down gesture, a next gesture, and a previous gesture.

17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
analyze the sensor data to determine a second location of the finger of the user and second input performed by the hand of the user; select a second vehicle parameter based on the second location of the finger; and modify the second vehicle parameter based on the second input performed by the hand of the user.

18 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the sensor comprises a camera configured to capture one or more images, and the processor is configured to determine the first location of the finger of the user by analyzing the one or more images to determine at least one input region occupied by the finger of the user.

19 . A method for modifying a vehicle parameter based on bimanual input, the method comprising:
acquiring sensor data associated with a first thumb of a user and a second thumb of the user; analyzing the sensor data to determine a first input region occupied by the first thumb and a second input region occupied by the second thumb; selecting a first vehicle parameter based on the first input region; and modifying the first vehicle parameter based on the second input region.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein modifying the first vehicle parameter is performed based on determining that the second thumb moved to the second input region within a threshold period of time subsequent to the first thumb moving to the first input region.

Assignees

• Harman Int Ind

Inventors

• Di Censo Davide
• Marti Stefan

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

• B60K35/85

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

• B60K35/25

  using haptic output · CPC title

• B60K35/80

  Arrangements for controlling instruments · CPC title

• B60K35/10

  Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor · CPC title