Dynamic Speed Limit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016189540-A1
Application number	US-201414584873-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 29, 2014
Priority date	Dec 29, 2014
Publication date	Jun 30, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A variable speed limit is calculated based on weather. A computing device identifies an incident probability threshold indicative of an acceptable rate of incident for vehicular transportation. A weather condition indicator is determined for a road segment. The weather condition indicator describes current or future weather conditions at the road segment. The computing device calculates the variable speed limit, or a safety speed, for a vehicle traveling on the road segment based on a function of the incident probability threshold and the weather condition indicator.

First claim

I claim:

1 . A method comprising:
identifying an incident probability threshold indicative of an acceptable rate of incident for vehicular transportation; identifying a weather condition indicator indicative of a weather condition for a road segment; and calculating, using a processor, a safety speed for a vehicle traveling on the road segment based on a function of the incident probability threshold and the weather condition indicator.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the weather condition indicator includes a combination of at least two components selected from a temperature component, a snow component, a wind component, a rain component, visibility component, and a fog component.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the weather conditional indicator is a sum of the squares of the at least two components.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the weather condition indicator is a decimal or fractional value between 0 and 1.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving data indicative of a current speed of the vehicle traveling on the road segment; comparing the current speed to the safety speed; and generating an alert when the current speed exceeds the safety speed.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the alert is an audible alert, a visual alert, or a vibratory alert.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the incident probability threshold as a user selection.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a vehicle type for the vehicle traveling on the road segment; and defining a tuning parameter for the function of the incident probability threshold and the weather condition indicator based on the vehicle type.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying data indicative of the safety speed on a map including the road segment.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a route to a destination based on the safety speed.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the function of the incident probability threshold (P) and the weather condition indicator is P=1−e −λs , wherein P is the incident probability, λ is the weather condition indicator, and the safety speed depends on a safety score s.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a driving command based on the safety speed.

13 . An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: identify an incident probability threshold indicative of an acceptable rate of incident for vehicular transportation; identify a weather condition indicator indicative of at least two weather conditions possible for a road segment, wherein the weather condition indicator is based on historical incident data aggregated according to weather conditions; and calculate a dynamic speed limit for a vehicle traveling on the road segment based a function of the incident probability threshold and the weather condition indicator.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
calculate a speed score based on the function of the incident probability threshold and the weather condition indicator; and convert the speed score to the dynamic speed limit using a lookup table.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the function of the incident probability threshold (P) and the weather condition indicator is P=1−e −λs , wherein P is the incident probability, A is the weather condition indicator, and s is the speed score.

16 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the weather conditions include a combination of at least two components selected from a temperature component, a snow component, a wind component, a rain component, visibility component, and a fog component.

17 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
receive data indicative of a current speed of the vehicle traveling on the road segment; compare the current speed to the safety speed; and generate an alert when the current speed exceeds the safety speed.

18 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
generate a driving command based on the safety speed.

19 . An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: send data indicative of a current location of the apparatus; wherein data indicative of a weather condition is accessed based on the current location of the apparatus; receive a dynamic speed limit for a vehicle traveling on the road segment based a function of an incident probability threshold and the weather condition; perform a comparison of a current speed of the apparatus to the dynamic speed limit; and generate a message based on the comparison.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the message includes an automated driving command or a warning alert.

Assignees

• Here Global Bv

Inventors

• Fowe James Adeyemi
• Dean Andrew
• Stenneth Leon Oliver
• Walz Carol
• Vachlon Matthew

Classifications

• G08G1/0116

  from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons · CPC title

• G08G1/012

  from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks · CPC title

• G08G1/0141

  for traffic information dissemination · CPC title

• G08G1/0112

  from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD] · CPC title

• G08G1/096741

  where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle · CPC title