Comfort ride vehicle control system

• US 10,120,385 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2016
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Connor, Patrick L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mawari, Redhwan K
• Assistant Examiner(s): Torchinsky, Edward
• Application Number:
  US15/085,756
• Publication Number:
  US 20170285646A1
• Time in Patent Office: 951 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/04 including control of propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/184 with wheel brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/22 including control of suspension systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/025 related to comfort of drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/085 Taking automatic action to adjust vehicle attitude in preparation for collision, e.g. braking for nose dropping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/04 Traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/617 Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80

Abstract

Various systems and methods for providing a vehicle control system are described herein. A system for managing a vehicle comprises: a vehicle control system of a vehicle having access to a network, including: a communication module to interface with at least one of: a mobile device, the vehicle, and environmental sensors coupled to the vehicle; and a configuration module to identify a mitigation operation to be taken when predetermined factors exist; wherein the vehicle control system is to identify a potential obstacle in a travel route of the vehicle and initiate a mitigation operation at the vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for managing a vehicle, the system comprising:

a vehicle control system of a vehicle having access to a network, including;

a communication module to interface with at least one of;

a mobile device, the vehicle, and environmental sensors coupled to the vehicle; and

a configuration module to identify a mitigation operation to be taken when predetermined factors exist;

wherein the vehicle control system is to;

identify a potential obstacle in a travel route of the vehicle, wherein to identify the potential obstacle, the vehicle control system is to;

access a database of obstacles using the communication module, each obstacle including a geographical position; and

identify the potential obstacle using the geographical position of the potential obstacle and a geographical position of the vehicle;

validate that the potential obstacle still exists using an imaging technique before engaging the mitigation operation; and

initiate a mitigation operation at the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the database of obstacles is populated, at least in part, by a community of drivers.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the database of obstacles includes information of relevant locations of a driver of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the mitigation operation comprises:

guiding the vehicle to avoid the potential obstacle.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the mitigation operation comprises:

alerting a passenger of the vehicle of the potential obstacle.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the mitigation operation comprises:

applying brakes to slow the vehicle down and reduce the impact of the vehicle with the potential obstacle.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the mitigation operation comprises:

adjusting a suspension setting of the vehicle to reduce the impact of the vehicle with the potential obstacle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the mitigation operation comprises:

adjusting a suspension setting of the vehicle to reduce body roll of the vehicle; and

guiding the vehicle around the potential obstacle.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system is to:

save the potential obstacle to an obstacle database.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the obstacle database is stored in a cloud service available to other drivers.

11. A method of managing a vehicle, the method comprising:

identifying at an onboard vehicle control system in a vehicle, a potential obstacle in a travel route of the vehicle, wherein identifying the potential obstacle includes;

accessing a database of obstacles, each obstacle including a geographical position, and identifying the potential obstacle using the geographical position of the potential obstacle and a geographical position of the vehicle;

validating that the potential obstacle still exists using an imaging technique before engaging the mitigation operation; and

initiating a mitigation operation at the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the potential obstacle comprises:

accessing a database of obstacles, each obstacle including a geographical position; and

identifying the potential obstacle using the geographical position of the potential obstacle and a geographical position of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the database of obstacles is populated, at least in part, by a community of drivers.

14. At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

identify a potential obstacle in a travel route of the vehicle, by;

accessing a database of obstacles, each obstacle including a geographical position, and identifying the potential obstacle using the geographical position of the potential obstacle and a geographical position of the vehicle;

validate that the potential obstacle still exists using an imaging technique before engaging the mitigation operation; and

initiate a mitigation operation at the vehicle.

15. The at least one machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions to identify the potential obstacle includes instructions to:

access a database of obstacles, each obstacle including a geographical position; and

identify the potential obstacle using the geographical position of the potential obstacle and a geographical position of the vehicle.

16. The at least one machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the mitigation operation comprises:

adjusting a suspension setting of the vehicle to reduce the impact of the vehicle with the potential obstacle.