Motor vehicle system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9944319-B2
Application number	US-201414763607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2014
Priority date	Jan 28, 2013
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a motor vehicle system, the system being operable to provide that provides a visual indication of the position relative to the vehicle of one or more obstacles that lie in the vicinity of the vehicle, predicts a path of a vehicle by reference to a position of a steering wheel or steerable road wheel of the vehicle, and determines whether any obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle lie in the predicted path by reference to data regarding the location of such obstacles. If the system determines that one or more obstacles lie in the predicted path the system provides an audible indication of a distance any such obstacles from the vehicle according to a distance from the vehicle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for providing assistance during low speed manoeuvres, the system being operable to provide a driver of a vehicle a visual indication of the position and distance relative to the vehicle of one or more obstacles in a vicinity of the vehicle, the system comprising:
at least one sensor configured to detect an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle;
a visual display panel; and
a controller configured to
predict a path of the vehicle by reference to a position of a steering wheel or a steerable road wheel of the vehicle; and
determine whether any obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle lie in the predicted path by reference to data regarding the location of such obstacles;
wherein if the controller determines that one or more obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle lie in the predicted path, the system is operable to provide to the driver of the vehicle an audible indication of a distance from the vehicle of one or more obstacles that lie in the predicted path according to a distance from the vehicle of an obstacle that lies in the predicted path;
wherein the system is operable to not provide an audible indication of a distance from the vehicle of one or more obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle that are determined not to lie in the predicted path;
wherein the controller causes the visual display panel to provide a visual indication of the relative position and distance from the vehicle of each obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle determined not to lie in the predicted path; and
wherein the system is operable to provide the audible and visual indications when the vehicle is moving in a forward direction only when a speed of the vehicle does not exceed a prescribed value.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the predicted path by further reference to a selected gear and/or a direction of rotation of one or more road wheels of the vehicle.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to provide different respective visual indications of respective obstacles based upon whether an obstacle lies in the predicted path, wherein the visual indication of an obstacle represented on the display panel includes at least one selected from among a color, a brightness and an iconic form that is different for an obstacle in the predicted path compared to an obstacle that is not in the predicted path.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1 , comprising an audio transducer to provide the audible indication.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the visual indication of a relative position with respect to the vehicle of an obstacle on the display panel by a relative position of a representation of the obstacle and a reference location of the display corresponding to the location of the vehicle.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the visual indication of the distance of the one or more obstacles from the vehicle using at least one selected from among a color, a brightness and an iconic form of a representation of the obstacle on the screen.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to provide a visual indication of a distance from the vehicle of an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle that lies in the predicted path.

8. A parking aid system comprising a system as claimed in claim 1 .

9. A motor vehicle comprising a system as claimed in claim 1 .

10. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a collision risk potential between the vehicle and an obstacle in the path of the vehicle, the controller being operable to command actuation of at least one vehicle system in dependence on the collision risk potential.

11. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to command actuation of at least one selected from among a vehicle braking system, a component of a vehicle powertrain and a vehicle steering system in dependence on the collision risk potential.

12. A method for providing assistance during a low speed manoeuvre, the method comprising:
predicting a path of the vehicle by reference to a position of a steering wheel or a steerable road wheel of the vehicle;
determining, based on an output of at least one sensor, whether obstacles in a vicinity of the vehicle lie in the predicted path by reference to data regarding a location of such obstacles;
if it is determined that one or more obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle lie in the predicted path, providing an audible indication to a driver of the vehicle of a distance from the vehicle of one or more obstacles determined to lie in the predicted path according to a distance from the vehicle of an obstacle that lies in the predicted path;
if it is determined that one or more obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle do not lie in the predicted path, not providing an audible indication to the driver of the vehicle of the distance from the vehicle to one or more obstacles determined not to lie in the predicted path;
providing a visual indication on a display panel of the relative position and distance from the vehicle of each obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle determined not to lie in the predicted path; and
wherein the method is performed when the vehicle is moving in a forward direction only when a speed of the vehicle does not exceed a prescribed value.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising predicting the vehicle path by further reference to a selected gear and/or a direction of rotation of one or more road wheels of the vehicle.

14. A method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising providing different respective visual indications of respective obstacles based upon whether an obstacle lies in the predicted path, wherein the visual indication of an obstacle represented on the display panel includes at least one selected from among a color, a brightness and an iconic form that is different for an obstacle in the predicted path compared to an obstacle that is not in the predicted path.

15. A method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising providing the audible indication using an audio transducer.

16. A method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising providing a visual indication of a relative position with respect to the vehicle of an obstacle on the display panel including a relative position of a representation of the obstacle and a reference location of the display corresponding to a location of the vehicle.

17. A method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising providing the visual indication of the distance of the one or more obstacles from the vehicle including one selected from among a color, a brightness and an iconic form of a representation of the obstacle on the display screen.

18. A method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising providing a visual indication of a distance from the vehicle of an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle that lies in the predicted path.

Assignees

• Jaguar Land Rover Ltd

Inventors

• Franganillo Diana
• Clugston Steven
• Cockings Kevin

Classifications

• B60Q9/007

  providing information about the distance to an obstacle, e.g. varying sound · CPC title

• B60T2201/10

  Automatic or semi-automatic parking aid systems · CPC title

• B62D15/028

  Guided parking by providing commands to the driver, e.g. acoustically or optically · CPC title

• G01S2015/932

  for parking operations · CPC title

• B62D15/0295

  by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image · CPC title