Light-based vehicle-device communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9970615-B1
Application number	US-201715602322-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 23, 2017
Priority date	May 23, 2017
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

A system for light-based vehicle-device communication includes a computer programmed to generate a first light pattern based on a received identifier, actuate a vehicle light according to the first light pattern, and then identify, from received image data, a second light pattern emitted from outside of the vehicle. The system may further include a mobile computing device programmed to generate the second light pattern based on a received vehicle identifier, and actuate a mobile device light according to the second light pattern. The mobile computing device may be programmed to identify, from received image data, the first light pattern.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising a computer programmed to:
generate a first light pattern based on a received identifier;
actuate a vehicle light according to the first light pattern; and
then identify, from received image data relating to an area around the vehicle, a second light pattern emitted by a light-generating device outside of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to actuate at least one vehicle component upon identifying the second light pattern.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to:
determine a mobile device location based on the identified second light pattern; and
output the mobile device location to a vehicle user interface.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to:
determine a path to a mobile device based on the identified second light pattern; and
at least one of output the path to a vehicle user interface and actuate the vehicle to move based on the path.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to:
determine a distance to a mobile device associated with the identifier; and
actuate the vehicle light upon determining that the distance is less than a predetermined threshold.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a mobile computing device, programmed to:
generate the second light pattern based on a received vehicle identifier; and
actuate a mobile device light according to the second light pattern.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the mobile computing device is further programmed to:
identify, from received image data, the first light pattern.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the mobile computing device is further programmed to:
based on the first light pattern, identify the vehicle in a display of a mobile device.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the mobile computing device is further programmed to:
before identifying the first light pattern from the received image data, use the received image data to predict the identity of the vehicle based on visual vehicle attributes.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the mobile computing device is further programmed to:
determine a distance to the vehicle; and
actuate the mobile device light upon determining that the distance to the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold.

11. A method comprising:
generating a first light pattern based on a received identifier;
actuating a vehicle light according to the first light pattern; and
then identifying, from received image data relating to an area around the vehicle, a second light pattern emitted by a light-generating device outside of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising actuating at least one vehicle component upon identifying the second light pattern.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a mobile device location based on the identified second light pattern; and
outputting the mobile device location to a vehicle user interface.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a path to a mobile device based on the identified second light pattern; and
at least one of outputting the path to a vehicle user interface and actuating the vehicle to move based on the path.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a distance to a mobile device associated with the identifier; and
actuating the vehicle light upon determining that the distance is less than a predetermined threshold.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
generating the second light pattern based on a received vehicle identifier; and
actuating a mobile device light according to the second light pattern.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
identifying, from received image data, the first light pattern.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
based on the first light pattern, identifying the vehicle in a display of a mobile device, based on the first light pattern.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
before identifying the first light pattern from the received image data, using the received image data to predict the identity of the vehicle based on visual vehicle attributes.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining a distance to the vehicle; and
actuating the mobile device light upon determining that the distance to the vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Cardillo John
• Das Sushanta
• Vukovic Ivan
• Ibrahim Samer

Classifications

• H04W4/021 Primary

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• G08G1/205

  Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental · CPC title

• F21S43/10

  characterised by the light source · CPC title

• H04B10/1123

  Bidirectional transmission · CPC title

• H04W4/38

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title