Driver advice system for a vehicle

• US 10,093,323 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2016
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Limited (TATA Motors Limited)
• Original Assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Limited (TATA Motors Limited)
• Inventors: Kelly, James, Fairgrieve, Andrew, Dennehy, Dan, Hemes, Elliot
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Luat T
• Application Number:
  US15/228,867
• Publication Number:
  US 20160339927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• Field of Search: 701 37
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/00 Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function for propulsion of purely electrically-propelled vehicles with power supplied within the vehicle B60L50/00 - B60L58/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/12 including control of differentials
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/14 Central differentials for dividing torque between front and rear axles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/22 including control of suspension systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0071 Controller overrides driver automatically
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0095 Automatic control mode change
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0657 Engine torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/35 Road bumpiness, e.g. potholes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18 Propelling the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/085 Changing the parameters of the control units, e.g. changing limit values, working points by control input
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 : using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A driver advice system for a vehicle having at least one vehicle subsystem comprises a selector for receiving at least one driving condition indicator for the vehicle and for selecting, from a plurality of settings, a preferred setting for the at least one vehicle subsystem in response to the at least one driving condition indicator. The driver advice system includes an indication device for providing to the driver an indication of the preferred setting for one or more of the vehicle subsystems.

Claims

1. A system for a vehicle having at least one vehicle subsystem, the system comprising:

one or more of a vehicle detection system and a vehicle sensor system for generating a signal from which at least one terrain condition indicator is derived;

a subsystem controller for controlling at least one vehicle subsystem in a plurality of subsystem control modes, each of which corresponds to one or more different terrain types for the vehicle; and

a processor configured to evaluate the at least one terrain condition indicator to determine the extent to which each of the subsystem control modes is appropriate and for providing an output indicative of the subsystem control mode which is most appropriate,

wherein the subsystem controller is operable in an automatic response mode to select a subsystem control mode in dependence on the output;

the system further comprising;

a switching device for enabling switching between the automatic response mode in which the controller controls the vehicle subsystems in dependence on the output automatically, and a manual response mode in which the appropriate subsystem control mode is selected by the driver manually; and

an indication device for providing an indication to a driver;

wherein the system is operable to provide an indication to the driver, by the indication device, to switch to the automatic response mode if a subsystem control mode has been selected by the driver in the manual response mode which is not consistent with the subsystem control mode selected in dependence on the output.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a detection system, wherein the at least one terrain condition indicator is derived from a signal indicative of the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle over which it is travelling.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one terrain condition indicator is derived from a signal indicative of the terrain in the surrounding vicinity of the vehicle over which it is about to travel.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one terrain condition indicator includes one or more of:

vehicle speed, road roughness, distance travelled with road roughness, surface friction at the vehicle wheels, vehicle gradient, engine torque of the vehicle engine and ambient temperature.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the vehicle subsystems includes a transfer box and wherein settings for the transfer box from which the most appropriate setting is selected include high and low range settings.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the vehicle subsystems includes an air suspension system and wherein settings for the air suspension system from which the most appropriate setting is selected include off-road, intermediate and on-road ride height settings.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indication device includes a visual display device and/or an audio device or a kinaesthetic device.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the probability that each of the subsystem control modes is appropriate and wherein the output provided by the processor is indicative of the subsystem control mode with the highest probability.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is operable in response to the output indicative of the subsystem control mode with the highest probability of being appropriate.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one vehicle subsystem includes one or more of:

an engine management system, a steering controller, a brakes controller, a transmission controller and a suspension controller.

11. A vehicle comprising the system as claimed in claim 1.

12. A vehicle controller for controlling at least one vehicle subsystem in a plurality of subsystem control modes, each of which corresponds to one or more different terrain types for the vehicle, the controller being configured to:

receive a signal from one or more vehicle sensors;

derive from the signal at least one terrain condition indicator; and

evaluate the at least one terrain condition indicator to determine the extent to which each of the subsystem control modes is appropriate;

wherein the controller is operable in an automatic response mode to select a subsystem control mode in dependence on the subsystem control mode which is determined to be the most appropriate, the controller being switchable from the automatic response mode to a manual response mode in which the subsystem control mode is selected by the driver manually; and

wherein the controller is configured to output, to an indication device, an indication to the driver to switch to the automatic response mode if a subsystem control mode has been selected by the driver in the manual response mode which is not consistent with the subsystem control mode determined to be the most appropriate subsystem control mode by the controller.

13. The controller as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one terrain condition indicator is derived from a signal indicative of the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle over which it is travelling.

14. The controller as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one terrain condition indicator is derived from a signal indicative of the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle over which it is about to travel.

15. The controller as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one terrain condition indicator includes one or more of:

vehicle speed, road roughness, distance travelled with road roughness, surface friction at the vehicle wheels, vehicle gradient, engine torque of the vehicle engine, and ambient temperature.

16. The controller as claimed in claim 12, wherein the indication device includes a visual display device or an audio device or a kinaesthetic device.

17. The controller as claimed in claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to determine the probability that each of the subsystem control modes is appropriate and wherein the subsystem control mode determined to be the most appropriate mode is the subsystem control mode with the highest probability.

18. A vehicle comprising the controller as claimed in claim 12.