Portable vehicle settings

• US 10,017,139 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2016
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Brenner, Andrew Scott, Onorato, Joseph M., Holle, Daniel, Brady, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Application Number:
  US15/042,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20170232914A1
• Time in Patent Office: 879 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/037 for occupant comfort , e.g. for automatic adjustment of appliances according to personal settings, e.g. seats, mirrors, steering wheel

Abstract

A driver may provide preferred vehicle setting data to a system through a user interface or the system may detect the preferred driver vehicle setting data by communicating with a particular vehicle. The preferred vehicle setting data may be generalized/abstracted so that the data is not specific to any one vehicle. When the driver sits in any vehicle, the system may identify the type of vehicle and translate the abstracted driver vehicle setting data to driver vehicle setting data that is particular to the identified vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving driver identification data identifying a particular driver;

obtaining, by one or more processors, abstract driver vehicle setting data based on the driver identification data, wherein the abstract driver vehicle setting data (i) includes vehicle component settings configurable for a plurality of vehicles and (ii) is generated based on the vehicle setting data obtained from a particular vehicle associated with the particular driver;

receiving vehicle identification data identifying a vehicle other than the particular vehicle;

determining, by the one or more processors, driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle based on the abstract driver vehicle setting data; and

triggering, by the one or more processors, an application of the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to modify one or more physical settings of one or more vehicle components in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle comprise data indicative of one or more of mirror positions, a driver seat position, steering wheel position, foot pedal positions, radio station presets, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) settings, vehicle lighting preferences, wiper speed settings, navigation settings, camera bumper settings, safety alert settings, child lock settings, and window lock settings.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the received driver identification data corresponds to a driver identification of the particular driver stored in an Internet cloud database associated with the particular driver.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the vehicle identification data identifying the vehicle other than the particular vehicle comprises one of:

obtaining the vehicle identification data received by a portable electronic device from the particular driver identified by the driver identification data; and

obtaining the vehicle identification data received by a portable electronic device from the vehicle other than the particular vehicle.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the one or more processors, the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle based on the abstract driver vehicle setting data comprises:

obtaining a likely profile of the particular driver from the abstract driver vehicle setting data, the likely profile of the particular driver comprising data that indicates at least a likely height, a likely arm length, and a likely leg length of the particular driver;

determining a range of values for each of one or more vehicle settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle; and

determining, for each of the one or more vehicle settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle, a particular value within the range of values that corresponds to the likely profile of the particular driver.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein triggering the application of the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle comprises:

transmitting, to the vehicle, the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle,

wherein the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle is applied by the vehicle to configure settings in the vehicle to the driver vehicle settings.

7. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving driver identification data identifying a particular driver;

obtaining abstract driver vehicle setting data based on the driver identification data, wherein the abstract driver vehicle setting data (i) includes vehicle component settings configurable for a plurality of vehicles and (ii) is generated based on the vehicle setting data obtained from a particular vehicle associated with the particular driver;

receiving vehicle identification data identifying a vehicle other than the particular vehicle;

determining driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle based on the abstract driver vehicle setting data; and

triggering an application of the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to modify one or more physical settings of one or more vehicle components in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle comprise data indicative of one or more of mirror positions, a driver seat position, steering wheel position, foot pedal positions, radio station presets, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) settings, vehicle lighting preferences, wiper speed settings, navigation settings, camera bumper settings, safety alert settings, child lock settings, and window lock settings.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the received driver identification data corresponds to a driver identification of the particular driver stored in an Internet cloud database associated with the particular driver.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein receiving the vehicle identification data identifying the vehicle other than the particular vehicle comprises one of:

obtaining the vehicle identification data received by a portable electronic device from the particular driver identified by the driver identification data; and

obtaining the vehicle identification data received by a portable electronic device from the vehicle other than the particular vehicle.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein determining, by the one or more processors, the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle based on the abstract driver vehicle setting data comprises:

obtaining a likely profile of the particular driver from the abstract driver vehicle setting data, the likely profile of the particular driver comprising data that indicates at least a likely height, a likely arm length, and a likely leg length of the particular driver;

determining a range of values for each of one or more vehicle settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle; and

determining, for each of the one or more vehicle settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle, a particular value within the range of values that corresponds to the likely profile of the particular driver.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein triggering the application of the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle comprises:

transmitting, to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle, the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle,

wherein the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle is applied by the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to configure settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to the driver vehicle settings.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein obtaining the abstract driver vehicle setting data based on the driver identification data comprises:

obtaining the vehicle setting data from the particular vehicle;

determining a likely physical profile of the particular driver; and

transforming the vehicle setting data from the particular vehicle to the abstract driver vehicle setting data using the likely physical profile of the particular driver.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving driver identification data identifying a particular driver;

obtaining abstract driver vehicle setting data based on the driver identification data, wherein the abstract driver vehicle setting data (i) includes vehicle component settings configurable for a plurality of vehicles and (ii) is generated based on the vehicle setting data obtained from a particular vehicle associated with the particular driver;

receiving vehicle identification data identifying a vehicle other than the particular vehicle;

determining driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle based on the abstract driver vehicle setting data; and

triggering an application of the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to modify one or more physical settings of one or more vehicle components in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle comprise data indicative of one or more of mirror positions, a driver seat position, steering wheel position, foot pedal positions, radio station presets, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) settings, vehicle lighting preferences, wiper speed settings, navigation settings, camera bumper settings, safety alert settings, child lock settings, and window lock settings.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the received driver identification data corresponds to a driver identification of the particular driver stored in an Internet cloud database associated with the particular driver.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein receiving the vehicle identification data identifying the vehicle other than the particular vehicle comprises one of:

obtaining the vehicle identification data received by a portable electronic device from the particular driver identified by the driver identification data; and

obtaining the vehicle identification data received by a portable electronic device from the vehicle other than the particular vehicle.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein determining, by the one or more processors, the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle based on the abstract driver vehicle setting data comprises:

obtaining a likely profile of the particular driver from the abstract driver vehicle setting data, the likely profile of the particular driver comprising data that indicates at least a likely height, a likely arm length, and a likely leg length of the particular driver;

determining a range of values for each of one or more vehicle settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle; and

determining, for each of the one or more vehicle settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle, a particular value within the range of values that corresponds to the likely profile of the particular driver.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, triggering the application of the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle comprises:

transmitting, to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle, the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle,

wherein the driver vehicle setting data particular to the vehicle other than the particular vehicle is applied by the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to configure settings in the vehicle other than the particular vehicle to the driver vehicle settings.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein obtaining the abstract driver vehicle setting data based on the driver identification data comprises:

obtaining the vehicle setting data from the particular vehicle;

determining a likely physical profile of the particular driver; and

transforming the vehicle setting data from the particular vehicle to the abstract driver vehicle setting data using the likely physical profile of the particular driver.