Systems and methods for vehicle system control based on physiological traits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017129335-A1
Application number	US-201715410582-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 19, 2017
Priority date	Nov 3, 2015
Publication date	May 11, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for controlling a vehicle based on a physiological trait. The method includes: receiving physiological data from one or more physiological sensors; processing the received physiological data, by a processor, to determine one or more physiological conditions; and based on the determined physiological condition, outputting one or more control signals to a vehicle system to control an operation of the vehicle system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for controlling a vehicle based on a physiological trait, comprising:
receiving physiological data from one or more physiological sensors; processing the received physiological data, by a processor, to determine one or more physiological conditions; and based on the determined physiological condition, outputting one or more control signals to a vehicle system to control an operation of the vehicle system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing the received physiological data, by the processor, to generate a baseline physiological reading; processing subsequently received physiological data, by the processor, to determine a physiological change; and based on the determined physiological change, outputting one or more control signals to the vehicle system to control the operation of the vehicle system.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
retrieving a setting associated with the determined physiological change, wherein outputting the one or more control signals to the vehicle system is based on the setting.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the setting is a user defined setting or a predefined default setting.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
outputting a message to an external authority system based on the determined physiological condition.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
outputting at least a notification and a GPS location of the vehicle based on the determined physiological condition.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
outputting a prompt based on the determined physiological condition; and determining, by the processor, whether a user response has been received, wherein the outputting one or more control signals to the vehicle system is based on the user response.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the determining, by the processor, whether the user response has been received further comprises:
receiving sensor data from one or more response sensors; processing the sensor data to determine whether a gesture has been made by the user; and determining the response has been received based on the determination of the gesture.

9 . A system for controlling a vehicle based on a physiological trait, comprising:
a source of physiological data regarding a user of the vehicle; and a control module having a processor that processes the physiological data and outputs at least one of one or more control signals to a vehicle control system to operate the vehicle autonomously based on the physiological data and outputs one or more control signals to the vehicle control system to command one or more of an HVAC system, a seat system, an infotainment system, a lock system, a light system, a window system and an alarm system based on the physiological data.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the source of physiological data is a personal device associated with the user.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor processes the physiological data to generate a baseline physiological reading, processes subsequently received physiological data to determine a physiological change and outputs one or more control signals to the vehicle control system based on the determined physiological change.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor retrieves a setting associated with the determined physiological change, and outputs the one or more control signals to the vehicle control system is based on the setting.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the setting is a user defined setting or a predefined default setting.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor processes the received physiological data and determines one or more physiological conditions, and outputs one or more control signals to the vehicle control system based on the determined physiological condition.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor outputs a message to an external authority system based on the determined physiological condition.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor outputs at least a notification and a GPS location of the vehicle based on the determined physiological condition.

17 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor outputs a prompt based on the determined physiological condition, determines whether a user response has been received and the control module outputs the one or more control signals to the at least one vehicle system based on the user response.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor determines whether the user response has been received based on sensor data received from one or more response sensors, and the processor processes the sensor data to determine whether a gesture has been made by the user, and determines the user response has been received based on the determination of the gesture.

19 . A wearable physiological device, comprising:
at least one physiological sensor that observes at least one physiological condition associated with a wearer of the physiological device and generates sensor signals based thereon; and a control module having a processor that processes the sensor signals and outputs the sensor signals to a system associated with a vehicle.

20 . The wearable physiological device of claim 19 , wherein the wearable physiological device is a portable electronic device selected from the group comprising: a watch, a ring, an earring, a bracelet, a cufflink, a necklace, a tie, glasses, chest band, smart clothes and combinations thereof.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Lu Peng
• Huang Xiaosong
• Szczerba Joseph F
• Neiiendam Tricia E

Classifications

• B60H1/00742

  by detection of the vehicle occupants' presence; by detection of conditions relating to the body of occupants, e.g. using radiant heat detectors · CPC title

• G06F1/1694

  the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer · CPC title

• A61B5/681

  Wristwatch-type devices · CPC title

• B60W2040/0872

  Driver physiology · CPC title

• G06F1/163

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title