Systems and methods for intersection assistance using dedicated short range communications

• US 10,181,264 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2016
• Issued: 01/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: MacNeille, Perry Robinson, Bennie, Brian, Murray, Allen R., Neubecker, Cynthia M., Makke, Omar, Mohammed, Noorulla, Lei, Oliver
• Primary Examiner(s): Whittington, Jess
• Application Number:
  US15/131,787
• Publication Number:
  US 20170301237A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/087 Override of traffic control, e.g. by signal transmitted by an emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for intersection assistance using dedicated short range communications are disclosed. An example vehicle includes a dedicated short range communication transceiver and an intersection assistor. The example dedicated short range communication transceiver is configured to receive safety messages from other vehicles. The example intersection assistor is configured to, before the vehicle reaches an intersection, determine a likelihood that there will be space for the vehicle on the other side of the intersection, and display a recommendation on whether to proceed through the intersection based on the likelihood.

Claims

1. A host vehicle comprising:

a dedicated short range communication transceiver that receives safety messages from a stationary transceiver and a first vehicle at a far side of an intersection; and

a processor that, before the host vehicle reaches the intersection;

defines a first zone between a second and third zone before the intersection, sizes of the zones based on a speed of the vehicle; and

when the host vehicle is in the first zone;

based on the received safety messages, predicts whether the first vehicle will render a space available for the host vehicle when the host vehicle clears the intersection and before a traffic light facing the host vehicle turns red; and

determines a recommendation on whether to traverse the intersection based on the prediction; and

a display device that displays the recommendation.

2. The host vehicle of claim 1, wherein one or more of the safety messages received from the first vehicle includes a speed value for the first vehicle, a heading of the first vehicle, and a location of the first vehicle.

3. The host vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor determines a stopping distance of the host vehicle.

4. The host vehicle of claim 3, wherein the recommendation on whether to traverse the intersection is additionally based on the stopping distance of the host vehicle.

5. The host vehicle of claim 1, wherein one or more of the safety messages received from the stationary transceiver includes timing of traffic lights controlled by a traffic signal.

6. The host vehicle of claim 5, wherein the recommendation on whether to traverse the intersection is based on a time between one of the traffic lights changing from a green light to a red light, the one of the traffic lights corresponding to a heading of the host vehicle.

14. The host vehicle of claim 1, wherein the sizes of the zones are also based on a condition of a road at the intersection.

7. A method comprising:

receiving, via a dedicated short range communication transceiver of a host vehicle, safety messages from a stationary transceiver and a first vehicle at a far side of an intersection and within a range of a host vehicle; and

before the host vehicle reaches the intersection;

defining, with a processor of the host vehicle, a first zone between a second and third zone before the intersection, sizes of the zones based on a speed of the host vehicle;

when the host vehicle enters the first zone;

based on the received safety messages, predicting, with the processor of the host vehicle, whether the first vehicle will render a space available for the host vehicle when the host vehicle clears the intersection and before a traffic light facing the host vehicle turns red;

determining, with the processor of the host vehicle, a recommendation on whether to traverse the intersection based on the prediction; and

displaying, on a display device, the recommendation.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein one or more of the safety messages received from the first vehicle includes a speed value for the corresponding vehicle, a heading of the corresponding vehicle, and a location of the corresponding vehicle.

9. The method of claim 7, including determining a stopping distance of the host vehicle.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the recommendation on whether to traverse the intersection is also based on the stopping distance of the host vehicle.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein one or more of the safety messages received from the stationary transceiver includes timing of traffic lights controlled by the traffic signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the recommendation on whether to traverse the intersection is based on a time between one of the traffic lights changing from a green light to a red light, the one of the traffic lights corresponding to a heading of the host vehicle.

15. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, with the processor of the host vehicle, a stopping distance of a second vehicle behind the host vehicle and a trajectory of the first vehicle; and

responsive to (a) the stopping distance indicating that the second vehicle will collide with the host vehicle if the host vehicle stops and (b) the trajectory indicating that there will not be room for the host vehicle on the far side of the intersection, (i) determining that the recommendation includes proceeding through the intersection, and (ii) sending a request to the first vehicle to alter its trajectory to provide space for the host vehicle.

13. A vehicle comprising:

processors to;

before the vehicle reaches an intersection;

receive messages from a stationary transceiver and another vehicle at the intersection far side;

based on the received messages, predict whether the another vehicle will render a space available for the vehicle when the vehicle clears the intersection and before a traffic light facing the vehicle turns red; and

a display device to display a recommendation to traverse the intersection based on the prediction.