Vehicle mode determination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9796388-B2
Application number	US-201514972540-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2015
Priority date	Dec 17, 2015
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

An operating mode is determined for a vehicle according to respective control states of each of a plurality of vehicle subsystems that include braking, steering, and propulsion. The operating mode is one of manual control, partial manual control, and no manual control. A route for the vehicle is determined based in part on the operating mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
identifying, as one of automatic and manual, respective control states of each of a plurality of vehicle subsystems that include braking, steering, and propulsion;
determining a vehicle operating mode according to the control states, wherein the operating mode is manual control where all control states are manual, partial manual control where one control state is manual and one control state is automatic, and no manual control where all control states are automatic; and
determining a route for the vehicle and operating the vehicle on the determined route based in part on the operating mode.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the route includes identifying at least one route feature that is appropriate for at least one of the control states.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one route feature includes a type of road, a type of terrain, a speed limit, a predicted traffic density, and one or more predicted vehicle maneuvers.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising traversing a portion of the route and then modifying the route according to a detected change in the operating mode.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising traversing a portion of the route and then changing the mode of operation.

6. A system, comprising a computer having a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor such that the computer is programmed to:
identify, as one of automatic and manual, respective control states of each of a plurality of vehicle subsystems that include braking, steering, and propulsion;
determine a vehicle operating mode according to the control states, wherein the operating mode is manual control where all control states are manual, partial manual control where one control state is manual and one control state is automatic, and no manual control where all control states are automatic; and
determine a route for the vehicle and operate the vehicle on the determined route based in part on the operating mode.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein determining the route includes identifying at least one route feature that is appropriate for at least one of the control states.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one route feature includes a type of road, a type of terrain, a speed limit, a predicted traffic density, and one or more predicted vehicle maneuvers.

9. The system of claim 6 , further wherein the computer is further programmed to, after a portion of the route is traversed, modify the route according to a detected change in the operating mode.

10. The system of claim 6 , further wherein the computer is further programmed to, after a portion of the route is traversed, changing the mode of operation.

11. A system, comprising a computer having a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor such that the computer is programmed to:
identify a route for a vehicle;
identify, as one of automatic and manual, respective control states of each of a plurality of vehicle subsystems that include braking, steering, and propulsion;
based at least in part on the route, determine a vehicle operating mode according to the control states, wherein the operating mode is manual control where all control states are manual, partial manual control where one control state is manual and one control state is automatic, and no manual control where all control states are automatic; and
operate the vehicle on the route.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the route includes identifying at least one route feature that is appropriate for at least one of the control states.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one route feature is determined according to a type of road, a type of terrain, a speed limit, a predicted traffic density, and one or more predicted vehicle maneuvers.

14. The system of claim 11 , further wherein the computer is further programmed to, after a portion of the route is traversed, modify the route according to a detected change in the operating mode.

15. The system of claim 11 , further wherein the computer is further programmed to, after a portion of the route is traversed, change the mode of operation.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Tseng Fling
• Filev Dimitar Petrov
• Kristinsson Johannes Geir
• Wisniewski Joseph
• Qiu Shiqi
• Makki Imad Hassan

Classifications

• B60W30/182 Primary

  Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes · CPC title

• B60W30/0953 Primary

  the prediction being responsive to vehicle dynamic parameters · CPC title

• B60W30/0956

  the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters · CPC title

• B60W10/20

  including control of steering systems · CPC title

• B60W10/18

  including control of braking systems · CPC title