System and method for monitoring driving behavior

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9764689-B2
Application number	US-201414509157-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2014
Priority date	Oct 8, 2014
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle computing system for a vehicle includes a radar system, a microphone, and at least one controller. The radar system is configured to measure a distance to a frontward-vehicle. The microphone is configured to measure vehicle cabin noise. The controller is configured to output a tailgating event when the measured distance to the frontward-vehicle is less than a predefined threshold value. The controller may be further configured to request cabin noise from the microphone based on the tailgating event. If the noise is greater than a threshold value, the controller may output an alert message.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle computing system comprising:
a radar system configured to measure a distance to a frontward-vehicle;
a microphone configured to measure cabin noise; and
at least one controller configured to,
output a tailgating indicator when the measured distance is less than a predefined threshold,
in response to the tailgating indicator, measure cabin noise from the microphone, and
if the noise is greater than a threshold value, output an alert message.

2. The vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to enable one or more remedial actions based on the alert message.

3. The vehicle computing system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more remedial actions is at least one of an accelerator pedal disable request, a reduce powertrain torque request, and a warning message at a display.

4. The vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to
detect a lane change via the radar system configured to measure a distance to a rearward-vehicle,
monitor a turn signal lever, and
if the turn signal lever is inactive, output the alert message.

5. The vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to establish communication with a nomadic device via a transceiver; and transmit the alert message to the nomadic device.

6. The vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to monitor brake pedal input based on a predefined calibratable table, and if the brake pedal input exceeds an aggressive driving threshold, output the alert message.

7. The vehicle computing system of claim 6 , wherein the predefined calibratable table is based on vehicle speed and a position of the brake pedal.

8. The vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to receive a measurement of vehicle cabin noise using the microphone during a moving window of time to set the threshold value such that a spike in volume is detected.

9. The vehicle computing system of claim 8 , wherein the noise is volume levels based on radio volume, wind noise, tire noise, and engine noise.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing instructions, which, when executed by a vehicle computing system, cause the system to perform a method comprising:
detecting a tailgating event based on data from a radar system;
comparing vehicle cabin volume to a baseline threshold value during the tailgating event; and
if the vehicle-cabin volume exceeds the baseline threshold value, outputting a remedial action.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the remedial action is at least one of a reduced powertrain torque, an accelerator pedal disable request, and a warning message at a display.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the reduced powertrain torque is a calibration map limiting powertrain torque output.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the accelerator pedal disable request is at least one of a torque calibration map disabling torque input via an accelerator pedal.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , storing additional instruction that cause the system to:
detecting a lane change event via the radar system configured to measure a distance to a rearward-vehicle,
monitoring a turn signal lever, and
if the turn signal lever is inactive, output an alert message.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , storing additional instruction that cause the system to establishing communication with a nomadic device via a transceiver; and transmitting the alert message to the nomadic device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , storing additional instruction that cause the system to monitoring brake pedal input based on a predefined calibratable table, and if the brake pedal input exceeds an aggressive driving threshold, outputting an alert message.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the predefined calibratable table is based on vehicle speed and a position of the brake pedal.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , storing additional instructions that cause the system to measuring noises via a microphone during a moving window of time to set the threshold value such that a spike in volume is detected.

19. An aggressive driving detection method comprising:
detecting a tailgating event based on a distance to a frontward-vehicle, via a radar system, when the distance is less than a predefined frontward-vehicle threshold,
in response to detecting the tailgating event, requesting in-vehicle cabin noise from a microphone, and
if the noise is greater than a threshold value, outputting an alert message.

20. The aggressive driving detection method of claim 19 , wherein the alert message is at least one of an accelerator pedal disable request, a reduce powertrain torque request, and a warning message at a display.

Assignees

• Myine Electronics Inc
• Livio Inc

Inventors

• Burke Michael

Classifications

• B60W50/14

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

• B60W2554/801

  Lateral distance · CPC title

• G01S13/931 Primary

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• B60W40/08

  related to drivers or passengers · CPC title

• B60Q9/008 Primary

  for anti-collision purposes · CPC title