System and method to detect whether a parked vehicle is in an enclosed space or an open space

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9679486-B2
Application number	US-201514919828-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2015
Priority date	Oct 22, 2015
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

An exemplary positioning method for a parked electrified vehicle, includes using an electrified vehicle charging system to compare at least one expected temperature outside a parked vehicle to at least one actual temperature outside the parked vehicle to determine whether the parked vehicle is in an open space or an enclosed space.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A positioning method for a parked electrified vehicle, comprising:
during a non-drive cycle, using an electrified vehicle charging system to automatically prevent an autonomous start of an engine in the parked vehicle in response to a comparison between at least one expected temperature outside the parked vehicle and at least one actual temperature outside the parked vehicle indicating that the parked vehicle is in an enclosed space rather than an open space.

2. The positioning method of claim 1 , further comprising the electrified vehicle charging system receiving the at least one expected temperature from a weather station, and receiving the at least one actual temperature from a temperature sensor.

3. The positioning method of claim 1 , further comprising providing an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if a signal having the at least one expected temperature is not received or has a signal strength below a threshold value.

4. The positioning method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one expected temperature comprises a plurality of expected temperatures each taken at different times within a time period, and the at least one actual temperature comprises a plurality of actual temperatures each taken at different times with the time period.

5. The positioning method of claim 4 , further comprising using a frequency spectrum analysis when comparing the plurality of expected temperatures to the plurality of actual temperatures.

6. The positioning method of claim 5 , further comprising providing an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if a frequency spectrum for the plurality of actual temperatures is varying differently than a frequency spectrum for the plurality of expected temperatures.

7. The positioning method of claim 5 , further comprising providing an indication that the parked vehicle is in the open space if an error signal between a first frequency spectrum of the plurality of expected temperatures and a second frequency spectrum of the plurality of actual temperatures varies less than a threshold variation level, and an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if the error signal is at or above the threshold variation level.

8. The positioning method of claim 4 , further comprising providing an indication that the parked vehicle is in the open space if an error signal between the plurality of expected temperatures and the plurality of actual temperatures is less than a threshold value, and an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if the error signal is at or above the threshold value.

9. The positioning method of claim 4 , further comprising providing an indication that the parked vehicle is in the open space if a correlation coefficient between the plurality of expected temperatures and the plurality of actual temperatures is less than a threshold correlation value, and an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if the correlation coefficient is at or above the threshold correlation value.

10. The positioning method of claim 1 , wherein the open space is an area outside a garage or in the garage with a garage door in an open position.

11. The positioning method of claim 1 , wherein the open space is an area that is acceptable for starting an internal combustion engine, and the enclosed space is an area that is unacceptable for starting the internal combustion engine.

12. The positioning method of claim 1 , further comprising using the electrified vehicle charging system to compare detected lighting adjacent the parked vehicle with a light sensor and comparing the lighting to a weather condition received from a weather station to determine whether the parked vehicle is in the open space or the enclosed space.

13. The positioning method of claim 12 , further comprising providing an indication that the vehicle is in the enclosed space if lighting adjacent the parked vehicle is less than an expected lighting level that is based on the weather condition.

14. An electrified vehicle charging system, comprising:
a controller configured to compare at least one expected temperature outside a parked vehicle to at least one actual temperature outside the parked vehicle to determine whether the parked vehicle is in an open space or an enclosed space, and further configured to prevent an autonomous start of the parked vehicle if the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space;
a receiver that communicates with a weather station to collect the at least one expected temperature; and
a temperature sensor that senses the at least one actual temperature.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the receiver and the temperature sensor are mounted to the parked vehicle.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the at least one expected temperature is associated with a location of the parked vehicle.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to provide an indication that the parked vehicle is in open space if an error signal between a first frequency spectrum of the at least one expected temperatures and a second frequency spectrum of the at least one actual temperature varies less than a threshold variation level, and an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if the error signal is at or above the threshold variation level.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to provide an indication that the parked vehicle is in the open space if an error signal between the at least one expected temperature and the at least one actual temperature is less than a threshold value, and an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if the error signal is at or above the threshold value.

19. The system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to provide an indication that the parked vehicle is in the open space if a correlation coefficient between the at least one expected temperatures and the at least one actual temperatures is less than a threshold correlation value, and an indication that the parked vehicle is in the enclosed space if the correlation coefficient is at or above the threshold correlation value.

20. An electrified vehicle charging system, comprising:
a controller configured to compare at least one expected temperature outside a parked vehicle to at least one actual temperature outside the parked vehicle to determine whether the parked vehicle is in an open space or an enclosed space;
a receiver that communicates with a weather station to collect the at least one expected temperature;
a temperature sensor that senses the at least one actual temperature; and
a lighting sensor mounted to the parked vehicle, the controller further configured to provide an indication that the vehicle is in the enclosed space if a lighting reading from the lighting sensor is less than an expected lighting level that is based on a weather condition from the weather station.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Li Yonghua
• Yu Hai

Classifications

• G01K3/04

  in respect of time · CPC title

• G08G1/145 Primary

  where the indication depends on the parking areas · CPC title

• G01S19/45

  by combining measurements of signals from the satellite radio beacon positioning system with a supplementary measurement · CPC title

• B60L11/1824

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• G08G1/147

  where the parking area is within an open public zone, e.g. city centre · CPC title