Hands-off steering wheel governed by pedestrian detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9612596-B2
Application number	US-201514704073-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2015
Priority date	May 5, 2015
Publication date	Apr 4, 2017
Grant date	Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle may be steered without a driver's hands being on a vehicle steering control mechanism. A presence of an object within a predetermined distance of the vehicle may be detected using data from at least one object detection sensor that provides data to at least one of a passive safety system, a lane control system, a speed control system, and a brake control system. A steering control mechanism hands-on mode can then be enabled based at least in part on the presence of the object.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising computer comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the computer is programmed to:
steer a vehicle without a driver's hands being on a vehicle steering control mechanism;
determine a presence of an object within a predetermined distance of the vehicle using data from at least one object detection sensor that provides data to at least one of a passive safety system, a lane control system, a speed control system, and a brake control system;
upon determining the presence of the object within the predetermined distance, detect whether the driver's hands are on the steering control mechanism; and
if the driver's hands are not detected on the steering control mechanism, actuate a vehicle component to enforce the driver's hand being on the steering control mechanism, the vehicle component being actuated only if the driver's hands are not detected on the steering control mechanism.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the component is a human machine interface, whereby the computer is further programmed to provide a message to the driver upon detecting that the driver's hands are not on the steering control mechanism.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one object detection sensor includes at least one of a camera, a radar, and a lidar.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to detect the object based at least in part on data from a navigation system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to actuate the vehicle component based at least in part on a speed of the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the steering control mechanism is a steering wheel.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to actuate the vehicle component based at least in part on data received from a remote server.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to perform at least one of controlling a speed and braking of the vehicle without the driver's input.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the object is a pedestrian.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to operate the vehicle autonomously after actuating the vehicle component.

11. A method, comprising:
steering a vehicle without a driver's hands being on a vehicle steering control mechanism;
determining a presence of an object within a predetermined distance of the vehicle using data from at least one object detection sensor that provides data to at least one of a passive safety system, a lane control system, a speed control system, and a brake control system; and
upon determining the presence of the object within the predetermined distance, detecting whether the driver's hands are on the steering control mechanism;
if the driver's hands are not detected on the steering control mechanism, actuating a vehicle component to enforce the driver's hand being on the steering control mechanism, the vehicle component being actuated only if the driver's hands are not on the steering control mechanism.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising providing a message to the driver upon detecting that the driver's hands are not on the steering control mechanism.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one object detection sensor includes at least one of a camera, a radar, and a lidar.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising actuating the vehicle component based at least in part on data from a navigation system.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising actuating the vehicle component based at least in part on a speed of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the steering control mechanism is a steering wheel.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising actuating the vehicle component based at least in part on data received from a remote server.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising performing at least one of controlling a speed and braking of the vehicle without the driver's input.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the object is a pedestrian.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising operating the vehicle autonomously after actuating the vehicle component.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Zwicky Timothy D
• Nave Christopher Scott
• Hsia Andy Chuan
• Tellis Levasseur
• Steiger Reid James

Classifications

• B60W2554/00

  Input parameters relating to objects · CPC title

• G01S2013/9319

  Controlling the accelerator · CPC title

• G08G1/165

  for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees · CPC title

• G01S2013/932

  using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction · CPC title

• B60W10/20

  including control of steering systems · CPC title