Systems, methods, and vehicles for generating cues to drivers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9701244-B2
Application number	US-201514868776-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2015
Priority date	Sep 29, 2015
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

Systems, methods and vehicles for generating cues to drivers of vehicles are disclosed. A system for generating a cue to a driver of a vehicle including at least one processor, at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, at least one stop (S) stored in the at least one memory module and at least one object sensor communicatively coupled to the at least one processor. When executed by the at least one processor, the machine readable instructions cause the cue generating system to detect a presence of an object in front of the vehicle, determine a cue position (P cue ) for generating a cue based on the detected presence of the object and the stop (S), and generate the cue to a driver of the vehicle based on the first position and the cue position (P cue ).

First claim

We claim:

1. A system for generating a cue to a driver of a vehicle comprising:
at least one processor;
at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the at least one processor;
at least one stop (S) stored in the at least one memory module, wherein the at least one stop (S) includes a location at which the vehicle has previously stopped;
at least one object sensor communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; and
machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module that cause the system to perform at least the following when executed by the at least one processor:
detect whether an object is present in front of the vehicle based on an output of the at least one object sensor;
determine a cue position (P cue ) for generating the cue based on the location of the at least one stop (S) in response to detecting that no object is present in front of the vehicle;
determine an adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) for generating the cue based on the location of the at least one stop (S) in response to detecting that the object is present in front of the vehicle, wherein the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) is further from the at least one stop (S) as compared to the cue position (P cue );
determine a first position of the vehicle;
generate the cue to the driver of the vehicle when the first position is the cue position (P cue ) and no object is detected as present in front of the vehicle; and
generate the cue to the driver of the vehicle when the first position is the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) and the object is detected as present in front of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one stopping position (S n ) of the vehicle stored in the at least one memory module, wherein the at least one stopping position (S n ) is a location the vehicle has previously stopped prior to reaching the at least one stop (S), wherein the at least one stopping position (S n ) is within a distance (D S ) of the at least one stop (S).

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module further cause the system to perform at least the following when executed by the at least one processor:
retrieve the at least one stopping position (S n ) from the at least one memory module in response to the vehicle being a minimum threshold distance (D o ) from the at least one stop (S).

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the cue position (P cue ) is determined to be a distance (D x ) from the at least one stopping position (S n ) in response to the at least one object sensor detecting no object within a minimum threshold distance (D o ), wherein the distance (D x ) is based on a speed of the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module further cause the system to perform at least the following when executed by the at least one processor:
determine a second position of the vehicle; and
detect whether the object is present in front of the vehicle in response to determining that the second position of the vehicle is within a minimum threshold distance (D o ) of the at least one stop (S).

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module further cause the system to perform at least the following when executed by the at least one processor:
determine an adjusted stopping position (S aj ) in response to the at least one object sensor detecting the object in front of the vehicle, wherein the adjusted stopping position (S aj ) is a distance (D y ) from the at least one stop (S).

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module further cause the system to perform at least the following when executed by the at least one processor:
determine the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) based on a speed of the vehicle, and the adjusted stopping position (S aj ).

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) is a distance (D x ) from the adjusted stopping position (S aj ).

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one stop (S) is a temporary stop on a route to a final destination, and the route is previously traveled by the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one object sensor is a radar unit, an ultrasonic unit, a camera system, a laser unit, or a laser radar unit.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cue is an audio cue, a visual cue, or a vibration.

12. A method for generating a cue to a driver of a vehicle comprising:
storing at least one stop (S) in at least one memory module wherein the at least one stop (S) includes a location at which the vehicle has previously stopped;
detecting whether an object is present in front of the vehicle based on an output of at least one object sensor;
determining a cue position (P cue ) for generating the cue based on the location of the at least one stop (S) in response to detecting that no object is present in front of the vehicle;
determining an adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) for generating the cue based on the location of the at least one stop (S) in response to detecting that the object is present in front of the vehicle, wherein the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) is further from the at least one stop (S) as compared to the cue position (P cue );
determining a first position of the vehicle;
generating the cue to the driver of the vehicle when the first position is the cue position (P cue ) and no object is detected as present in front of the vehicle; and
generating the cue to the driver of the vehicle when the first position is the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) and the object is detected as present in front of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
storing at least one stopping position (S n ) of the vehicle in the at least one memory module, wherein the at least one stopping position (S e ) is a location the vehicle has previously stopped prior to reaching the at least one stop (S), wherein the at least one stopping position (S n ) is within a distance (D S ) of the at least one stop (S).

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
retrieving the at least one stopping position (S n ) from the at least one memory module in response to the vehicle being at a minimum threshold distance (D o ) from the at least one stop (S).

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the cue position (P cue ) is determined to be a distance (D x ) from the at least one stopping position (S n ) in response to the at least one object sensor detecting no object within a minimum threshold distance (D o ), wherein the distance (D x ) is based on a speed of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining a second position of the vehicle; and
detecting whether the object is present in front of the vehicle in response to determining that the second position of the vehicle is within a minimum threshold distance (D o ) of the at least one stop (S).

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining an adjusted stopping position (S aj ) in response to the at least one object sensor detecting the object in front of the vehicle, wherein the adjusted stopping position (S aj ) is a distance (D y ) from the at least one stop (S).

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
determining the adjusted cue position (P′ cue ) based on a speed of the vehicle and the adjusted stopping position (S aj ).

19. The method of claim 18 , wh

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Eng & Mfg North America Inc

Inventors

• Payne Joshua D
• Roa Vincent E
• Morfin Lincoln

Classifications

• B60W30/181

  Preparing for stopping · CPC title

• B60W30/18072

  Coasting · CPC title

• B60W50/14 Primary

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title

• B60W30/18127

  Regenerative braking · CPC title

• B60Q9/00 Primary

  Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 {, e.g. haptic signalling} · CPC title