Tire pressure monitoring with vehicle park-assist

• US 10,232,673 B1
• Filed: 06/01/2018
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Lavoie, Erick Michael, Van Wiemeersch, John Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Lau, Hoi C
• Application Number:
  US15/996,022
• Time in Patent Office: 291 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0479 Communicating with external units being not part of the vehicle, e.g. tools for diagnostic, mobile phones, electronic keys or service stations
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/027 Parking aids, e.g. instruction means
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/028 Guided parking by providing commands to the driver, e.g. acoustically or optically
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0285 Parking performed automatically
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/168 Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space

Abstract

Method and apparatus are disclosed for tire pressure monitoring with vehicle park-assist. An example vehicle includes tires, tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensors, a park-assist controller to determine a parking path, and a TPMS controller. The TPMS controller is to determine tire characteristics based on the parking path, calculate tire indexes for the tires based on the tire characteristics, and select one or more of the TPMS sensors based on the tire indexes. The TPMS controller also is to instruct, via a communication module, the selected TPMS sensors to collect pressure measurements during park-assist.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

tires;

tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensors;

a park-assist controller to determine a parking path; and

a TPMS controller to;

determine tire characteristics based on the parking path;

calculate tire indexes for the tires based on the tire characteristics;

select one or more of the TPMS sensors based on the tire indexes; and

instruct, via a communication module, the selected TPMS sensors to collect pressure measurements during park-assist.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, further including an autonomy unit to perform motive functions for the park-assist.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, further including at least one of a proximity sensor and a camera that enable the park-assist controller to determine the parking path.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein each of the tires includes a corresponding one of the TPMS sensors.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, upon receiving an instruction from the TPMS controller, each of the selected TPMS sensors collects one of the pressure measurements and sends that one of the pressure measurements to the TPMS controller via the communication module.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, upon receiving the pressure measurements from the selected TPMS sensors, the TPMS controller normalizes the pressure measurements based upon at least one of an ambient temperature and a barometric pressure.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, upon receiving the pressure measurements from the selected TPMS sensors, the TPMS controller is to:

calculate a change-in-pressure slope for each of the tires corresponding to the selected TPMS sensors; and

emit a tire pressure alert in response to determining that at least one of calculated change-in-pressure slopes is greater than a threshold slope.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, by causing only the selected TPMS sensors to collect the pressure measurements during the park-assist, the TPMS controller reduces an amount of wireless communication being transmitted and processed while the park-assist is active.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, the TPMS controller weights the tire characteristics to calculate the tire indexes based on the tire characteristics.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the TPMS controller compares the tire indexes to an index threshold to determine which of TPMS sensors are included in the selected TPMS sensors.

11. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the tire characteristics include a direction of travel along the parking path.

12. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the tire characteristics include a road wheel angle along the parking path.

13. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the tire characteristics include a clearance distance to an object along the parking path.

14. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the tire characteristics include a road wheel distance to be traveled along the parking path.

15. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the tire characteristics include a current charge level of a corresponding one of the TPMS sensors.

16. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the tire characteristics include a duration of time since a corresponding one of the TPMS sensors collected a most recent pressure measurement.

17. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, for each of the tires, the TPMS controller further calculates a corresponding one of the tire indexes based on a presence of a recent tire pressure alert.

18. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a second communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with a mobile device of a user, wherein the park-assist is remote park-assist initiated by the mobile device.

19. A method comprising:

determining, via a processor, a parking path for a vehicle;

determining tire characteristics of tires of the vehicle based on the parking path;

calculating a tire index for each of the tires based on the tire characteristics;

selecting one or more of the TPMS sensors based on the tire indexes; and

instructing, via a communication module, the selected TPMS sensors to collect pressure measurements during park-assist.

20. The method of claim 19, further including, for each of the selected TPMS sensors, collecting one of the pressure measurements for a corresponding one of the tires and sending that one of the pressure measurements to the communication module.